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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


This  edition  sprinted  from  type  in 
February  and  March^  iSgg^  is 
limited  to  one  thousand  copies,  of 
which  this  is 

No 9.^...- 


f 


ANTON     SEIDL 


A     MEMORIAL 


ANTON  SEIDL 


A    MEMORIAL    BY 
HIS    FRIENDS 


<^^< 


NEW     YORK 

CHARLES     SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

MDCCCXCIX 


COPYRIGHT,     1899 
BY    CHARLES    SCRIBNEr's    SONS 


If  '>  7 


PREFACE 


SHORTLY  after  Anton  Seidl's  death  several  of  his 
friends  suggested  that  I  should  write  a  book  about 
him,  biographic  and  critical.  As  I  happened  to 
be  at  work  on  two  other  books  which  absorbed  all  my 
spare  time,  I  at  first  looked  on  the  proposal  as  imprac- 
ticable ;  but  one  morning  the  thought  came  into  my 
mind,  "Why  not  contribute  a  chapter  or  two  myself  and 
let  Mr.  Seidl's  other  friends — singers,  players,  composers, 
critics — write  the  others?"  The  rest  of  the  plan  was 
soon  sketched.  The  book  was  to  be  a  labor  of  love  for 
all  concerned  and  the  friends  appealed  to  responded  cor- 
dially. Lilli  Lehmann  and  Marianne  Brandt,  in  far-off 
Germany  and  Austria,  sent  their  contributions  first,  and 
the  others  followed  promptly.  The  contributions  are 
printed  exactly  as  they  were  sent,  except  that  some  had 
to  be  translated.  The  blue  pencil  was  used  in  a  few 
places,  to  avoid  repetition  of  biographic  facts  or  anec- 
dotes ;  but  this  could  not  be  done  in  all  cases,  on  account 


1CB8G71 


PREFACE 


of  the  connection.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  I 
am  responsible  for  all  the  literary  interludes  connecting 
the  various  contributions. 

In  preparing  the  biographic  chapter  I  had  the  advant- 
age of  the  co-operation  of  Mrs.  Seidl.  I  asked  her,  since 
she  naturally  knew  so  much  more  about  her  late  lamented 
husband  than  any  one  else,  to  write  a  chapter  of  remi- 
niscences, or,  at  any  rate,  to  jot  down  copious  notes  about 
his  career,  his  character  and  habits,  so  that  I  might  incor- 
porate them  in  the  biographic  chapter.  She  demurred 
at  first,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  never  written  any- 
thing for  the  printer,  and  was  not  even  a  good  letter 
writer,  but  finally  consented.  The  result  proved  so 
eminently  satisfactory  that  I  found  I  could  use  her  manu- 
script (in  translation)  exactly  as  sent  in,  except  that  I 
found  it  advisable  to  divide  it  into  sections  and  put  each 
in  its  proper  place  in  quotation  marks.  Thus  the  reader 
will  always  know  what  part  of  the  story  is  hers. 

Schiller  said  that  "  for  actors  posterity  has  no 
wreaths."  Anton  Seidl  was  like  an  actor  in  so  far  as  he 
was  not  a  creator,  but  only  an  interpreter.  He  was, 
however,  like  Liszt  or  Rubinstein,  a  creative  interpreter, 
inspired,  enthusiastic,  authoritative.  He  preached  the 
gospel  of  the  greatest  composer  of  the  nineteenth  century 
on  two  continents.  He  was  the  first  to  conduct  Wagner's 
greatest  works  in  many  German  cities,  as  well  as  in  Italy, 


PREFACE 


England  and  America.  In  America,  especially,  he  will 
always  be  identified  with  the  acclimatization  of  Wagner's 
operas.  The  twelve  years  he  labored  in  New  York  were 
years  during  which  Wagner's  art  took  firm  root  in 
American  soil.  He  did  not  reap  the  full  material  com- 
pensation for  his  labors.  All  the  more  does  he  deserve  a 
reward  like  this  volume,  which  will  remain  not  only  as 
a  monument  to  his  interpretative  genius  and  his  worth 
as  a  man,  but  also  as  a  milestone  marking  the  most  im- 
portant twelve  years  in  the  history  of  music  in  America. 
To  all  those  who  have  so  generously  helped  to 
make  this  book  a  success,  Mrs.  Seidl  asks  me  to  express 
in  this  place  her  heartfelt  thanks  ;  also  to  the  publishers, 
Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  for  their  kindness  in  waiv- 
ing all  share  of  the  profits;  to  Messrs.  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.  for  courteous  permission  to  reprint  from  their  sump- 
tuous volumes.  Music  of  the  Modem  World,  Seidl's  article  on 
Conducting,  which  is  second  in  value  only  to  Wagner's 
own  essay  on  the  same  subject ;  and  to  Messrs.  Falk, 
Wilhelm,  and  Aime  Dupont,  for  permission  to  use  copy- 
right photographs. 

Henry  T.  Finck. 
New  York,  March  i,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


loGRAPHic    Sketch     by     Henry     T.     F 

INCK 

9 

Including  the  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Seidl      .    3-83 

Student  Life  at  Leipsic 

4 

With  Hans  Richter   . 

7 

In  Wagner's  House 

8 

Concerts  in  Berlin     . 

10 

The  First  Bayreuth  Festival 

II 

Recommended  by  Wagner 

12 

Wagner's  First  Symphony 

13 

Seidl  Surprises  Wagner 

14 

The  Traveling  Wagner  Theatre 

15 

Courtship  Days 

16 

The  London  Barber 

18 

At  Amsterdam  and  Berlin 

20 

Adventures  in  Italy   . 

21 

Wagner's  Death 

23 

More  Honors  for  Seidl 

24 

Madame  de  Lucca     . 

26 

Marriage 

27 

CONTENTS 

A  Year  in  New  York 

28 

Golden  Age  of  German  Opera   . 

29 

Debut  in  New  York 

31 

Wagnerian  Conquest  of  New  York     . 

32 

German  Opera  Banished    . 

33 

Philliarmonic  Prosperity     , 

34 

Reinstated  at  the  Metropolitan   . 

36 

Beloved  By  His  Singers     . 

38 

Stage   Management    . 

39 

Some  Personal  Traits 

41 

Home  Life        .... 

44 

Eight  Pet  Dogs 

45 

In  the  Catskills — Work  and  Play 

46 

Mime  Buried  Alive   . 

49 

Christmas  Presents     . 

50 

Wotan  Kills  Mime    . 

52 

Seidl's  Generosity 

54 

Masquerade    and    a  Surprise 

54 

Presents  for  His  Wife 

57 

Relations  with  Musicians    . 

58 

Favorite  Haunts 

60 

His  Majesty,  Richard  Wagner    . 

62 

Theodore  Thomas 

63 

Triumph  in  London 

64 

How  Seidl  Conducted  Wagner   . 

67 

Triumph  in   Bayreuth 

68 

A  Permanent  Orchestra 

71 

The  World  at  his  Feet 

77 

Fatiguing  Duties 

78 

The  Last  Day 

80 

CONTENTS 


The  Funeral  Services  by  Edgar  J.  Levey 
Programme        .... 
Address  of  Mr.  Wright      . 
Dispatch  from  Colonel  Ingersoll 

Some  Personal  Tributes 

The  Philharmonic  Society 

A  Brooklyn  Tribute 

By  Albert  Steinberg 

By  James  Huneker 

By  Henry  Waller      . 

By  Henry  Holden  Huss    . 

By  Victor  Herbert     . 

Appreciations  by  Musical  Critics 
By  H.  E.  Krehbiel    . 
By  F.  N.  R.  Martinez 
By  August  Spanuth    . 
By  Charles  D.  Lanier 
By  Henry  T.  Finck 

Letters  to  Seidl  from  Richard  Wagner 
Others     .... 
From  Robert  Ingersoll 
From  Templeton  Strong    . 
From  Jules  Massenet 
From  Eugene  Ysaye 
From  Antonin  DvoHk 
From  Richard  Wagner 
From  Cosima  Wagner 

Anton  Seidl's  Literary  Work 

The  Development  of  Music  in  America 
Cuts  in  the  Nibelung  Trilogy 


85-97 

. 

86 

• 

92 

• 

93 

lOI- 

-127 

. 

lOI 

102 

104 

114 

117 

119 

113 

isl- 

-176 

131 

140 

148 

158 

160 

and 

179- 

-202 

• 

181 

182 

183 

184 

185 

187 

199 

205- 

-240 

. 

206 

209 

CONTENTS 


Anton  Seidl's  Literary  Work  (Cont 
A  Scene  in  the  Gotterdammerung 
Fafner's  Death 
Siegfried's  Narrative 
Orchestra  and  Singer 
Schumann  and  Wagner 
On  Conducting 

Tributes  from  Great  Singers 
By  Lilli  Lehmann-Kalisch 
By  Marianne  Brandt 
By  Lillian  Nordica  Dome 
By  Emma  Eames-Story 
By  Anton  Schott 
By  Giuseppe  Campanari     . 
By  Jean  and  Edouard  de  Reszlce 


inued)  205-240 
210 
21 1 
21 1 

212 
213 
215 

243-259 
243 

245 

248 

251 

252 

255 

258 


PO  RT  RA I TS 


Anton  Seidl,  October,   1895 

Mrs.  Seidl,  1886 

Mrs.  Seidl  as  Eva  in  Meistersinger,  1886 
Anton  Seidl,  1888  .... 

Anton  Seidl,  1894  .... 

Anton  Seidl,  1895  •  •  •  •  • 

Summer  Home  in  the  Catskills,     . 

SEPTEMBER,    I  897 

Anton  Seidl  Conducting,  1895 


FACING 

Title 
16 
28 

34 

58 

80 

1 12 

215 


FACSIMILES 


Letter  from  Wagner,  1878  .  .  .187 

Wagner's  Original  Mss.  of  the  Song  of 

Walther  in  Tannhauser         .  .  .      200 

Seidl's  Original  Mss.,  Erlkonig  Ballade      .      236 
Testimonials  at  the  end  of  the  volume 

From  the  Maurice  Grau  Opera  Company. 

From  the  Directors  of  the  MetropoHtan  Opera  and  Real 
Estate  Company. 

From  the  Musical  Protective  Union. 

From  the  Manuscript  Society. 


BIOGRAPHIC    SKETCH 

BY 

HENRY    T.     FINCK 

INCLUDING 

MRS.    SEIDL'S    MEMOIRS 


BIOGRAPHIC     SKETCH 


IT  is  an  odd  fact  that  most  of  the  great  Wagnerian  conductors 
were  born  in  Hungary.  Liszt,  Hans  Richter,  Nikisch, 
Sucher,  came  from  the  land  where  the  fiery  Magyars  and  gipsies 
dwell,  and  so  did  Anton  Seidl.  He  was  born  at  Budapest  on 
the  sixth  of  May,  1850,  the  year  when  Liszt  took  pity  on 
Wagner  and  brought  out  his  three-year-old  Lohengrin  which 
no  one  else  had  dared  to  touch,  because  it  was  believed  to  be  an 
"  impossible  "  opera. 

The  parents  of  Anton  Seidl  intended  him  to  become  a 
priest.  As  a  boy  he  seemed  to  be  willing  enough  to  gratify 
their  desire  ;  he  liked  to  assemble  his  playmates  about  him,  read 
mass,  dispense  a  blessing,  and  imitate  other  things  he  had  seen 
in  church.  Yet  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  riding  his  hobby- 
horse, singing  rhythmically,  "  Tschin  daratta,  bum,  bum,  bum," 
and  exclaiming,  "  I  want  to  be  a  conductor."  His  musical  talent 
was  revealed  at  an  early  age.  He  was  a  boy  prodigy,  and  was 
only  six  years  old  when  he  first  played  the  piano  at  a  chanty 
concert.  In  school  he  played  the  organ  for  the  Fathers  and 
became  director  of  the  male  chorus.  Nicolitsch,  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Music,  gave  him  lessons  in  harmony  and  counter- 

3 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


point.  But  his  chief  delight  was  the  grand  opera.  He  attended 
performances  as  otten  as  possible,  and  when  he  got  home  would 
sit  up  late  at  night  trying  to  repeat  on  the  piano  the  melodies 
he  had  heard  at  the  theatre,  as  well  as  to  imitate  the  gestures  of 
the  conductor,  who  seemed  to  him  a  most  important  personage. 
When  he  heard  Lohengrin  for  the  first  time  he  was  so  deeply 
affected  that  he  made  up  his  mind  firmly  to  become  a  musician, 
and  his  parents  who  had  at  first  opposed  his  musical  inclina- 
tions, finally  yielded. 

STUDENT       LIFE       AT       LEIPSIC 

Leipsic  was  at  that  time  still  the  centre  of  musical  life  in 
Germany,  and  to  that  city,  accordingly,  he  went  in  1870,  aged 
twenty  years.  His  object  being  to  obtain  a  general  education 
as  well  as  a  musical  training,  he  not  only  became  a  pupil  at  the 
famous  conservatory,  but  also  was  immatriculated  as  a  student 
at  the  university,  where  he  attended  lectures  on  Logic,  Philos- 
ophy and  Musical  History.  At  the  conservatory  he  studied 
the  piano  under  Coccius  and  Wenzel,  the  organ  under  Pappe- 
ritz,  harmony  and  thoroughbass  under  Oscar  Paul  and  E.  F. 
Richter. 

When  Anton  Seidl  took  his  oath  of  allegiance  before  the 
rector  of  the  university  he  stood  next  to  Adalbert  Schueler,  who 
soon  became  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends,  and  remained  so 
to  the  last  day  of  the  great  conductor's  life,  his  final  act  of  friend- 
ship being  a  short  address  spoken  at  the  open  bier.  To  Mr. 
Schueler  I  am  indebted  for  some  unpublished  anecdotes  and 
reminiscences  relating  to  the  student  years  of  his  friend.  While 
by  no  means  inclined  to  neglect  his  lessons,  Anton  Seidl  found 
more  food  for  his  mind  in  the  numerous  concerts  and  operatic 
performances  offered  in  Leipsic.      Nor  was  he  averse  to  enjoying 

4 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


a  convivial  evening  with  friends  ;  and  thus  it  happened  that  once 
in  a  while  the  motto,  "  business  before  pleasure,"  was  reversed. 
One  of  these  "  larks  "  and  its  sequel  is  thus  described  by  Mr. 
Schueler : 

"  In  1872  Anton  Seidl  was  a  member  of  a  class  in  counter- 
point under  Dr.  Oscar  Paul,  of  the  Leipsic  Conservatory.  There 
was  a  good  deal  of  writing  to  be  done,  and  it  was  often  almost 
impossible  to  find  the  necessary  time  for  writing  out  all  the  ex- 
amples given.  As  Anton  Seidl  was  at  the  same  time  attending 
the  university,  he  occasionally  visited  some  of  those  meetings  of 
students,  from  which  '  they  wouldn't  go  home  till  morning.' 
Such  a  protracted  meeting  of  jolly  students  would  naturally  con- 
flict seriously  with  the  examples  in  counterpoint.  It  was  on  one 
of  these  occasions  that  Mr.  Seidl  came  to  my  '  den  '  one  even- 
ing and  said  :  '  I  am  going  to  be  out  with  the  boys  to-night  and 
have  not  yet  done  anything  towards  my  counterpoint  lesson  for 
to-morrow  morning.  I  hate  to  skip  it,  and  yet  I  cannot  attend 
without  some  written  examples.  Have  you  got  time  to  write 
some  examples  for  me  ? '  As  I  had  done  most  of  my  examples, 
I  promised,  and  he  left  his  book  with  me. 

"  In  the  morning  he  came  to  his  class  room  late  ;  so  I  had 
just  time  to  give  him  his  book  before  he  handed  it  to  the  pro- 
fessor. It  was  too  late  to  look  over  the  lesson  I  had  written 
for  him.  Dr.  Paul,  who  was  sitting  at  the  table,  opened  the 
book,  Mr.  Seidl  standing  a  little  behind  him  to  his  right,  I  to  his 
left.  The  professor,  whose  delight  it  was  to  hunt  and  find  mis- 
takes and  to  make  the  most  of  his  '  find  '  in  the  way  of  sneering 
and  scolding,  began  to  read,  with  pencil  in  hand.  All  at  once  the 
pencil  came  down  with  a  plunge  on  some  unfortunate  note. 
"  Dummes  Zeug  !  What  do  you  mean  by  this  note  ?  "  He 
looked  up  in  Seidl's   face  with   a  frown.      Now,  although   Seidl 

5 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


felt  perfectly  innocent  in  regard  to  that  note,  he  felt  also  that  he 
had  to  father  the  mistake,  whatever  it  might  be.  He  knew,  too, 
that  since  he  never  had  seen  it,  he  would  not  be  able  to  explain  it. 
So  he  did  his  best  to  gain  time,  by  taking  off  his  glasses  and  thor- 
oughly wiping  them.  I  had  been  watching  the  professor's  pencil 
from  the  beginning,  and  seeing  the  mistake,  said  :  'I  think  that 
note  ought  to  be  a  instead  of  b.'  Turning  his  head  to  me  over 
his  left  shoulder,  the  professor  inquired  :  'What  in  the  world  do 
you  know  about  it  ? '  '  Oh,  I  was  simply  looking  into  the  book 
over  your  shoulder  and  saw  the  mistake,'  was  my  answer.  Seidl 
still  kept  on  wiping  his  glasses  with  a  vengeance.  '  Well,  a  will 
do,'  said  the  professor,  and  went  on  reading. 

"  Unfortunately  this  was  not  the  only  time  that  the  pro- 
fessor's pencil  struck  a  snag.  But  wherever  it  happened,  the 
same  peculiar  conditions  of  the  atmosphere  compelled  Seidl  to 
wipe  his  glasses,  and  the  unwary  professor  gradually  got  in  the 
way  of  asking  questions  over  his  right  and  getting  the  answers 
over  his  left  shoulder.  Subsequently  it  always  seemed  to  both 
of  us  like  a  miracle  that  we  were  not  suspected  and  caught  in  the 
game  we  played.  One  other  occasion  after  that,  similar  circum- 
stances induced  me  to  write  an  exercise  in  Seidl's  book,  but  the 
scare  we  had  had  taught  us  a  lesson.  We  both  were  very  par- 
ticular that  Mr.  Seidl  should  see  what  I  had  written  before  the 
professor  saw  it." 

Another  episode  relating  to  this  period  is  thus  described  by 
Mr.  Schueler  : 

"In  the  autumn  of  1870  Anton  Seidl  entered  the  organ 
class  of  Dr.  Papperitz,  of  which  class  the  writer  of  this  also  was 
a  member.  The  lessons  at  that  time  were  given  on  the  old 
worn-out  organ  of  the  still  older  St.  Peter's  Kirche.  Anton 
Seidl,  who  had  never  sat  on  an  organ-bench  before,  was  asked 

6 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


to  take  his  seat.  Being  unacquainted  with  the  dangers  of  a 
'  loaded  organ,'  he  innocently  stepped  between  bench  and  organ, 
and  had  both  his  feet  planted  squarely  on  the  pedals  before  the 
unsuspecting  professor  could  prevent  it.  The  result,  as  may  be 
imagined,  was  startling,  and  the  face  of  Anton  SeidI  was  a  puzzle. 
'  Take  your  feet  off  the  pedals  ! '  exclaimed  the  excited  professor. 
Up  went  one  foot,  then  the  other ;  the  organ  kept  up  its  dismal 
noise.  Above  its  roar  was  heard  the  voice  of  the  professor, 
'  Sit  down  and  lift  your  feet ! '  which  he  finally  did." 

WITH        HANS        RICHTER 

During  the  two  years  that  he  studied  in  Leipsic,  the  prog- 
ress of  the  Wagner  movement  throughout  Germany  engaged 
his  special  attention.  He  knew,  among  other  things,  that  Hans 
Richter  had  been  with  Wagner  in  1866  to  1867,  preparing 
the  Meistersinger  score  for  the  press ;  that  he  was  subse- 
quently appointed  Director  of  the  Chorus  at  the  Royal  Opera 
in  Munich,  and  that  he  brought  out  Lohengrin  at  Brussels, 
in  1870.  He  felt  sure  that  no  one  except,  perhaps,  Hans  von 
Billow,  could  have  penetrated  so  deeply  into  the  secrets  of  Wag- 
nerian interpretation,  and,  therefore,  when  he  heard  that  Richter 
had  gone  to  Budapest  as  conductor  of  the  opera,  he  made  up 
his  mind  to  return  to  his  native  city  and  beg  Richter  to  accept 
him  as  a  pupil.  Richter  readily  consented,  instructing  him  also 
in  the  scores  of  the  classic  masters,  and  he  soon  became  so  con- 
vinced of  his  pupil's  extraordinary  talent  that,  when  Wagner 
wrote  to  him,  in  1872,  asking  him  to  help  him  in  finding  a 
talented  young  man  who  could  assist  him  in  his  work  at  Bay- 
reuth,  he  promptly  recommended  Anton  Seidl  for  the  place.  It 
was  a  stroke  of  luck  such  as  the  young  man  had  never  thought 
of  in  his  wildest  dreams,  and  he  did  not  need  Richter's  admoni- 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


tion  that  he  had  before  him  a  rare  opportunity  for  becoming  a 
great  interpreter.  He  knew,  as  well  as  his  teacher,  that  there 
were  certain  things — the  most  important  of  all — which  he  could 
learn  only  from  the  master  himself.  So  it  was  with  eager  ex- 
pectations, and  a  heart  throbbing  with  joy,  that  he  packed  his 
trunk  and  took  the  train  for  Bayreuth. 

IN     wagner's     house 

Why  was  Wagner  so  anxious  to  have  an  assistant  ?  The 
following  extract  from  one  of  his  letters  to  Liszt,  at  an  earlier 
period,  will  answer  that  question  : 

"  I  am  working  with  all  my  energies.  Could  you  not  send 
me  a  man  who  would  be  able  to  take  ray  wild  lead-pencil  sketches 
and  make  a  cleanly-copied  score  of  them  ?  I  am  working  this 
time  on  a  plan  quite  different  from  my  former  one.  But  the 
copying  is  killing  me  !  It  makes  me  lose  time  of  which  I  might 
make  more  precious  use ;  and,  besides,  the  constant  writing 
fatigues  me  so  much  that  it  makes  me  ill,  and  causes  me  to  lose 
the  mood  for  the  real  work  of  creating.  Without  such  a  clever 
assistant  I  am  lost ;  with  him  I  could  have  the  whole  [Tetralogy] 
completed  in  two  years." 

In  another  place  Wagner  refers  to  his  sketches  in  these 
words  :  "  Everything  written  with  pencil  illegibly  in  single 
sheets.  It  is  altogether  too  difficult  to  copy  them  in  my  way, 
especially  as  the  sketches  often  really  are  dreadfully  confused,  so 
that  only  I  can  decipher  them."  It  took  a  thorough  musician 
to  do  this  work,  and  Wagner  soon  found  that  Anton  Seidl  was 
just  the  man  he  wanted.  He  kept  him  in  his  house  six 
years  while  he  was  completing  the  Gotterddmmerung  score  and 
composing  Parsifal,  and  thus  it  came  about  that  Anton  Seidl 
had  the  honor  and  advantage  of  becoming  one  of  the  four  only 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


pupils  Wagner  ever  had,  the  other  three  having  been  Hans  von 
Biilow,  Karl  Ritter,  and  Hans  Richter. 

Having  been  so  long  a  member  of  Wagner's  household, 
Anton  Seidl  had  many  interesting  things  to  relate  about  the  great 
master,  and  one  of  the  most  regrettable  things  about  his  early 
and  sudden  death  is  that  he  had  never  written  his  reminiscences  of 
that  period.  To  his  friends  he  used  to  relate  how  Wagner  com- 
posed. He  always  carried  some  sheets  of  music  paper  in  his 
pocket,  on  which  he  jotted  down  with  a  pencil  such  ideas  as  came 
to  him  on  solitary  walks,  or  at  other  times.  These  he  gave  to 
his  wife,  who  inked  them  over  and  arranged  them  in  piles.  In 
these  sketches  the  vocal  part  was  always  written  out  in  full,  while 
the  orchestral  part  was  roughly  indicated  in  two  or  more  staves. 
Whenever  the  master  was  in  the  mood  for  composing,  he  would 
say  to  Seidl :  "  Bring  me  my  sketches,"  and  the  pupil  would 
pick  out  the  parts  he  happened  to  be  at  work  on.  Then  Wag- 
ner would  retire  to  his  composing  room,  to  which  no  one  was 
admitted,  not  even  his  wife  and  children.  After  elaborating  the 
melodic,  harmonic  and  rhythmic  details  of  his  score  he  considered 
his  main  task  done,  and  the  orchestration  was  completed  down- 
stairs in  the  music  room. 

Probably  no  task  that  Wagner  ever  had  puzzled  him  so 
much  as  that  of  writing  a  march  for  the  Philadelphia  Centennial. 
He  had  never  been  in  America,  knew  little  of  our  musical  atmos- 
phere, and  had  nothing  to  inspire  him.  Mr.  Seidl  told  me  how 
Wagner  secured  a  collection  of  American  tunes,  but  could  find 
nothing  in  it  to  suit  him.  For  a  time  he  was  really  distressed, 
not  knowing  whether  he  could  keep  his  promise.  But  one  day, 
as  he  was  emerging  from  a  dark  lane  in  Bayreuth  into  daylight, 
the  idea  of  the  triplets  which  pervade  the  march  occurred  to  him 
suddenly  ;   and  Mr.  Seidl  vividly  remembered  the  master's  joy 

9 


ANTON       SEIDI-  A       MEMORIAL 

at  having  at  last  found  a  theme  on  which  he  could  lavish  his  stir- 
ring harmonies  and  wealth  of  orchestral  colors. 

An  anecdote  regarding  Parsifal,  which  is  related  in  my 
Wagner  and  his  Works,  may  also  be  fitly  reproduced  here  as  show- 
ing the  relations  between  master  and  pupil.  When  Seidl  had 
become  Wagner's  secretary  he  one  day  heard  him  play  the  en- 
chanting strains  of  the  Flower  Girl  scene,  which  naturally  made 
an  indelible  impression  on  him.  Some  years  later,  when  he  was 
putting  the  sketches  into  rough  shape  for  practical  use,  Wagner 
played  various  parts  for  him.  When  he  came  to  the  Flower 
Girl  music,  Seidl  remarked,  "Ah,  I  know  that  ! "  whereupon 
Wagner  jumped  up  excitedly,  almost  angrily,  and  wanted  to 
know  where  he  had  heard  it.  He  was  pacified  after  the  matter 
had  been  explained,  but  the  shock  remained  in  his  memory  a 
long  time,  and  every  now  and  then  he  would  say  to  Seidl  :  "  Well, 
have  you  found  any  more  familiar  things  in  my  music  ?  " 

CONCERTS        IN        BERLIN 

In  the  spring  of  1875  Wagner  went  to  Berlin  to  give  two 
concerts  with  the  Bilse  Orchestra.  "  He  appeared  at  the  first 
with  the  young  Anton  Seidl  at  his  side,"  relates  Franz  Frid- 
berg  in  the  Berliner  Tageblatt.  After  telling  how  Seidl  became 
Wagner's  secretary,  Herr  Fridberg  continues  : 

"  In  time  he  became  Wagner's  right  hand  ;  he  was,  in  fact, 
the  real  conductor  of  our  rehearsals.  It  was  impossible  to  conceive 
all  that  this  young  man  from  Budapest  heard  and  knew  by  heart. 
Before  Wagner  himself  had  noted  errors  in  his  own  music,  Seidl 
could  be  seen  flying  over  chairs  and  desks  to  correct  the  blunder. 
The  Master  viewed  the  actions  of  his  young  famulus  with  paternal 
love,  and  repeatedly  I  heard  him  murmur,  '  Ho,  he  !  What 
would  I  do  without  my  Seidl  ? '      If  Seidl  disappeared  for  a  mo- 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ment,  and  things  began  to  go  a  bit  at  sixes  and  sevens,  Wagner 
would  look  about  anxiously  and  cry,  '  Help,  Seidl  ! '  and  Seidl 
would  come  with  flying  leaps  to  set  things  to  rights.  In  one 
passage  it  seemed  impossible  to  achieve  what  was  wanted  of  the 
bass  trumpet.  The  player  was  an  excellent  trumpeter,  but  could 
not  understand  the  exotic  instrument.  In  vain  did  Seidl  labor 
with  him,  sing  the  passage,  rewrite  it  for  him,  explain  it  over  and 
over  again  ;  it  wouldn't  go.  Wagner,  too,  tried  his  eloquence, 
but  with  as  little  success.  At  length  Seidl  turned  to  the  Director's 
stand  and  said,  '  Master,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  make  the  man 
play  it.'  '  For  me,  too,'  replied  Wagner,  angrily,  and  the  two 
looked  at  each  other  despairingly.  All  at  once  the  figure  of 
Bilse  rose  up  beside  the  trumpeter,  took  the  instrument  from  his 
hand  and  played  the  passage  perfectly.  Bilse,  a  practical  man 
and  routinier,  had,  as  usual,  found  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty  ; 
the  man  grasped  what  was  wanted,  and  played  the  passage  in 
turn  correctly  and  with  surety.  Wagner  turned  to  Seidl,  and 
in  his  Saxon  dialect  observed,  '  There,  you  see,  Seidl,  Bilse  can 
do  what  the  two  of  us  couldn't.'  Five  years  later  I  heard  Die 
Gdtterddmmerung  under  Seidl's  direction  in  Leipsic.  Not  long 
before  I  had  heard  the  first  and  second  performances  of  the 
tremendous  work  in  Munich  under  Levy.  Without  wishing  in 
the  least  to  depreciate  the  merits  of  this  great  artist,  I  must  say 
that,  for  me,  Seidl's  conception  was  the  greater.  There  was  in  it 
more  life,  more  movement,  more  poetry.  In  fact,  I  received  the 
impression  that  night  that  of  all  the  conductors  I  had  got  ac- 
quainted with,  Seidl  was  the  chosen  interpreter  of  Wagner." 

THE       FIRST       BAYREUTH        FESTIVAL 

It  was  also  Anton  Seidl's   happy  privilege  to   assist  at  the 
rehearsals  and  performances  of  the  Nibelung  Tetralogy  at  the 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


first  Bayreuth  Festival  in  1876.  In  the  article  on  Conducting, 
reprinted  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  Mr.  Seidl  himself  gives  us 
an  interesting  glimpse  of  his  duties  on  this  occasion.  Before  the 
stage  rehearsals  began,  Wagner  said  to  him  ;  "  My  boy,  you  must 
help  me  on  the  stage,  behind  the  scenes.  You  and  your  col- 
league Fischer  (subsequently  Court  Conductor  at  Munich)  must 
assume  responsibility  on  the  stage  for  everything  that  has  any- 
thing to  do  with  music — that  is,  you  must  act  as  a  sort  of  musi- 
cal stage  manager.  You  will  see  the  importance  of  this  yourself, 
and  you  will  find  that  it  will  be  of  infinite  effect  upon  your 
future  as  a  conductor."  "  Later,"  continues  Mr.  Seidl,  "  we 
were  joined  by  MottI,  and  naturally  we  undertook  the  unique 
work  with  tremendous  enthusiasm.  Wagner  was  wont  to  call  us 
playfully  his  three  Rhine  daughters,  for  the  first  rehearsal  under 
his  care  was  devoted  to  the  first  scene  of  Das  Rheingold.  I  was 
in  charge  of  the  first  wagon,  which  carried  Lilli  Lehmann,  who 
sang  the  part  of  Woglinde.  Little  did  I  suspect  that  in  after 
years  Lilli  would  sing  the  part  of  Briinnhilde  under  my  direction." 
In  the  other  operas  he  similarly  took  care  that  certain  scenic  de- 
tails were  carried  out  in  harmony  with  the  music. 

RECOMMENDED        BY        WAGNER 

Mr.  Seidl  now  believed  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  he 
ought  to  utilize  his  acquired  knowledge  in  spreading  the  gospel 
of  Wagner's  art.  Having  heard  that  there  was  an  opening  at 
Mayence,  he  approached  Wagner,  who  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  Dr.  Strecker,  manager  of  the  well-known  music  pub- 
lishing house  of  B.  Schott's  Sons  :  "  Esteemed  doctor :  I  have 
just  read  an  advertisement  in  regard  to  the  vacancy  in  the  con- 
ductor's place  at  Mainz.  I  beg  you  to  use  all  your  influence  to 
secure   this  position   for   mv   young  friend  and  adjutant,  Anton 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Seidl  (at  present  here).  He  conducts  excellently,  is  very  ener- 
getic and  reliable,  and  I  vouch  for  him  in  every  way.  He  would 
be  ready  to  begin  on  September  i.  I  have  taken  it  upon  myself 
to  find  a  good  place  for  him,  and  would  consider  it  a  special  act 
of  friendship  if  my  wish  could  be  gratified  through  your  kindly 
intervention."  The  letter,  however,  came  too  late.  The  posi- 
tion had  already  been  assigned  to  another  applicant — luckily  for 
Anton  Seidl,  who  remained  a  while  longer  with  his  master  and 
afterwards  found  a  much  wider  field  of  usefulness  than  a  small 
city  like  Mayence  could  have  offered  him. 

Wagner's     first     symphony 

It  was  in  the  year  of  the  first  Bayreuth  festival  that  Richard 
Wagner  founded  a  sort  of  museum  af  manuscripts  and  other 
articles  relating  to  his  life,  for  the  benefit  •f  his  son  Siegfried. 
Among  other  things  he  was  anxious  to  include  in  it  the  manu- 
script of  his  first  symphony,  which  had  been  lost  ever  since  1 848. 
He  asked  some  of  his  friends  to  search  for  it,  and  they  succeeded 
in  finding  the  parts  in  a  trunk  which  Wagner  had  left  in  the 
house  of  the  tenor  Tichatschek  when  he  had  t«  leave  Dresden 
suddenly  because  of  his  participation  in  the  revolutionary  up- 
rising. Wagner  was  delighted  to  recover  this  juvenile  efF»rt,  and 
he  asked  Anton  Seidl  to  combine  the  parts  into  a  sc»re  and  to 
add  the  two  missing  trombone  parts.  Six  years  later  Wagner 
asked  Seidl  to  come  to  Venice  to  supervise  the  production  of  this 
symphony  ;  but,  unfortunately,  his  favorite  interpreter  was  un- 
able to  get  leave  of  absence  from  his  manager.  We  shall  see  later 
on  how  this  annoyed  him. 

During  these  last  years  of  his  life  Wagner  intrusted  all  im- 
portant enterprises  to  Anton  Seidl,  whenever  he  was  consulted 
about  them,  and  this  enabled   the  young  conductor  to  fan   the 

"3 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


flame  of  enthusiasm  for  his  adored  master  in  various  German 
and  foreign  cities.  In  1879  he  assisted  at  the  rehearsals  for  the 
Wagner  festival  in  London,  and  previously,  in  1877  and  1878, 
Wagner  had  sent  him  to  Leipsic  and  Vienna  to  give  the  singers 
at  the  opera  the  benefit  of  his  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Nibe- 
lung  scores.  In  the  following  year  he  was  engaged  as  conductor 
of  the  opera  at  Leipsic,  where  he  astonished  the  conservative 
natives  by  the  most  stirring  interpretations  of  Wagner's  works. 
It  was  there  that  I  for  the  first  time  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
Mr.  Seidl  conduct,  and  I  now  realize,  better  than  I  did  then,  that 
it  was  his  interpretative  genius  that  there  made  me  appreciate  the 
Nibelung  dramas  in  some  respects  even  more  than  I  had  appre- 
ciated them  at  Bayreuth. 

SEIDL        SURPRISES        WAGNER 

Of  what  great  importance  to  the  cause  of  Wagnerism  Anton 
Seidl  was  is  made  apparent  by  the  manner  in  which  he  won  a  suc- 
cess at  Leipsic  for  'Tristan  and  Isolde.  Wagner,  discouraged  by 
the  fate  of  this  diflicult  work  at  several  opera  houses,  had  made 
up  his  mind  not  to  allow  it  thereafter  to  be  given  anywhere  ex- 
cept under  his  own  supervision.  When  Angelo  Neumann, 
manager  of  the  Leipsic  Opera,  first  asked  permission  to  produce 
this  opera,  Wagner  refused  ;  but  subsequently,  in  view  of  the  co- 
operation of  Seidl,  he  gave  his  consent.  What  the  result  was 
may  be  inferred  from  a  letter  to  Neumann  that  Wagner  wrote 
at  Palermo  on  January  16,  1882,  in  which  occurs  this  passage: 
"  My  excellent  friend  and  patron  ! 

"  It  was  kind  on  your  part  to  write  to  me  about  the  success 
of  the  Tristan  performance  at  your  theatre.  .  .  You  are  aware 
that  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  allow  this  problematic  work  to 
be  given  hereafter  only  under  my  personal  supervision  :  now  it 

>4 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


has  succeeded  without  me — and  that  astonishes  me  !  Well,  good 
luck  !  I  certainly  discover  in  Seidl  hidden  faculties  which  only 
require  a  fostering  warmth  to  surprise  even  myself;  therefore,  I 
beg  you  now,  for  the  sake  of  the  ensemble,  to  allow  him  even  in 
the  scenic  department  more  authority  than  is  usually  granted  to 
conductors,  for  in  that  direction  lies  what  he  especially  learned  from 
me.  .  .  Kindest  greetings  to  Seidl  and  his  admirable  company." 
Under  such  circumstances  it  was  a  matter  of  course  that 
when  the  Travelling  Wagner  Theatre  was  organized,  Anton 
Seidl  was  first  of  all  secured  for  the  conductorship.  What  was 
the  Travelling  Wagner  Theatre  ?  It  was  a  project  of  Angelo 
Neumann's  to  take  Bayreuth,  so  to  speak,  on  a  trip  through 
Europe.  He  believed  that  if  a  company  of  first-class  Wagner 
singers  were  brought  together,  with  Anton  Seidl  at  their  head, 
for  a  series  of  Nibelung  performances,  the  enterprise  would  be 
attended  by  great  success.  Wagner  would  have  preferred  to 
have  Europe  come  to  Bayreuth,  but  as  he  had  not  the  means  to 
give  another  Nibelung  festival  at  that  time,  he  gave  his  consent 
and  blessing  to  Neumann's  grand  undertaking. 

THE   TRAVELLING   WAGNER   THEATRE 

The  original  company  included  Hedwig  Reicher-Kinder- 
mann,  Marianne  Brandt,  Auguste  Kraus,  Katharine  Klafsky, 
Anton  Schott,  Julius  Liban,  George  Unger,  and  on  special  occa- 
sions, Materna,  and  others.  Performances  were  given  in  various 
cities  of  Germany,  Austria,  Switzerland,  Belgium,  Holland  and 
England.  Altogether,  from  September  i,  1882,  to  June  5,  1883, 
the  number  of  performances  of  the  Nibelung  operas  given  on 
the  Continent  was  135,  nearly  all  of  which  Seidl  conducted,  be- 
side 58  Wagner  concerts.  Thus  Anton  Seidl  had  the  privilege 
of  first  interpreting  Wagner's  great  work  in  many  German  cities, 

'5 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


and  in   several   foreign  countries,  to  which  America  was  added 
later. 

Before  the  last  performance  given  by  this  company  (at  Graz), 
Angelo  Neumann  delivered  an  address  to  his  artists,  in  course  of 
which  he  said  :  "  A  special  word  of  thanks  is  due  to  you.  Kapell- 
meister Seidl,  and  your  orchestra.  The  achievements  of  the  or- 
chestra, and  your  inspired  interpretations,  have  aroused  the 
admiration  of,  I  might  say,  the  whole  world,  and  I  hope  we  shall 
yet  win  many  a  victory  together." 

Previous  to  the  long  tour  of  the  Traveling  Wagner  The- 
atre, Anton  Seidl  had  distinguished  himself  in  Berlin  (1881-82) 
by  conducting,  at  the  Victoria  Theatre,  the  first  performances  of 
the  Nibelung  dramas  ever  produced  in  that  city.  Four 
cycles  were  given  with  such  brilliant  success  that  the  company 
returned  the  next  year  from  Leipsic  and  gave  Nibelung 
performances  for  several  months.  Excellent  as  were  the  co- 
operating vocalists,  it  was  conceded  that  the  lion's  share  of  the 
triumph  was  due  to  Anton  Seidl,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  had 
to  put  up  with  an  inferior  Berlin  orchestra.  In  a  letter  which 
I  wrote  at  the  time,  and  which  was  printed  in  the  New  York 
Nation  (June  16,  1881),  I  said  that  the  orchestra  reminded  me 
of  "  a  mediocre  instrument  played  by  a  man  of  genius."  Wagner 
was  present  at  these  performances,  and  often  expressed  his  pleas- 
ure at  the  achievements  of  his  pupil.  It  maybe  added  here  that 
the  last  letter  he  wrote  was  addressed  to  Angelo  Neumann,  and 
contained  the  words  "  Seidl  delights  me  greatly." 

COURTSHIP        DAYS 

As  good  luck  would  have  it,  the  Traveling  Wagner  Theatre 
had  included,  among  its  members,  Fraulein  Auguste  Kraus,  a 
blonde  beauty  of  the  Viennese  type.     Good  luck,  both  because 

16 


Mrs.  Seidl 
1886 


O  M      A      PHOTOGRAPH       BY      K  A  L  K 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


she  was  an  admirable  interpreter  of  the  lighter  soprano  roles  in 
Wagner's  operas  (she  sang  Wellgunde,  Sieglinde,  Gutrune  ;  also 
Eva,  Elsa,  etc.),  and  because  it  was  in  this  tournee  that  Anton 
Seidl  wooed  and  won  her  as  his  wife — a  wife  who  for  a  few  years 
after  marriage  continued  her  professional  career,  and  then  gave 
herself  up  entirely  to  the  devoted  care  of  her  beloved  husband. 
Mrs.  Seidl  has  written  for  this  book  the  following  account  of  this 
interesting  period  : 

"  When  I  first  became  acquainted  with  Anton  Seidl,  I  had 
been  taking  lessons  for  a  short  time  only.  About  that  time  the 
*  ensemble  '  of  the  first  act  of  Lohengrin  was  being  produced, 
in  which  I  was  singing  the  part  of  Elsa.  We  were  quite 
alarmed  when  we  were  told  that  Anton  Seidl  of  Bayreuth,  who 
was  then  on  a  visit  at  Hans  RIchter's,  would  be  present  on  the 
occasion.  Young  as  he  was  then,  he  looked  very  serious,  had  a 
big  pair  of  spectacles  and  long  hair,  much  longer  than  he  wore 
it  in  later  years.  He  did  not  speak  one  word,  not  a  muscle  in 
his  face  indicated  whether  he  was  pleased  or  not ;  I  was,  there- 
fore, not  a  little  proud  when  told  afterwards  that  he  had  spoken 
approvingly  of  my  voice  and  remarked  that  the  blonde  Elsa 
would  achieve  success. 

"  The  following  year  I  had  the  good  fortune  of  meeting 
him  again  ;  as  a  pupil  of  Hans  Richter  I  enjoyed  the  privilege 
of  attending  all  the  performances  of  the  Nibelung's  Ring  at  Bay- 
reuth ;  then  later  on  at  Vienna,  whither  the  master  sent  him  to 
see  to  it  that  the  Trilogy  was  studied  in  the  spirit  of  his  beloved 
master.  At  that  time  he  was  offered  an  engagement  at  the  city 
theatre  of  Leipsic.  Two  years  later  I  was  engaged  there  for  the 
youthful  dramatic  roles  at  the  Opera,  and  only  then  I  began  to 
know  him  better.  We  were  generally  all  assembled  for  rehearsal 
before  he  in  his  characteristically  slow  way   would  step  out  of  a 

J7 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Still  slower  cab  and  make  his  way  towards  the  stage.  Once  he 
remarked,  when  the  question  as  to  the  musical  ability  of  the  dif- 
ferent singers  came  up  for  discussion,  that,  in  spite  of  my  usual 
correctness,  he  was  almost  willing  to  wager  that  in  the  second  act 
of  the  Meistersinger,  before  the  duet  with  Hans  Sachs  ('  Good 
evening,  master,  still  so  busy  ?  '),  if  his  song  should  be  followed 
by  loud  applause,  so  that  I  would  be  unable  to  hear  the  orchestra, 
I  would  fail  to  begin  in  the  right  place.  Naturally  I  did  not 
agree  with  him,  and  when,  on  the  following  day  I  sang  Eva,  I  had 
no  idea  that  he  was  in  earnest  when  he  told  me  he  would  give 
me  no  clue.  Schelper,  after  singing  '  How  sweetly  smell  the 
elder  blossoms  ! '  was  loudly  applauded,  but  I  counted  my 
measures,  so  that,  in  spite  of  my  not  hearing  the  orchestra  well, 
I  succeeded  in  coming  in  at  the  proper  time.  How  surprised  I 
was,  when  my  part  came,  to  see  my  dear  conductor  looking  into 
his  score  without  making  a  sign  for  me — a  proceeding  which, 
however,  did  not  prevent  me  from  singing  correctly.  He  told 
me  afterwards  that  he  would  not  have  acted  thus,  if  he  had  not 
been  perfectly  sure  that  I  would  come  out  all  right. 

THE        LONDON        iJARBER 

"In  May,  1882,  the  Richard  Wagner  Theatre  Company 
went  to  London  to  produce  the  Nibelung  Trilogy.  One  day 
there  was  great  excitement  among  the  artists  during  a  rehearsal. 
What  had  become  of  Seldl  ?  Was  he  sick  ?  Who  was  the  man  at 
the  desk  in  his  place  ?  These  were  the  questions  asked  by  the 
artists,  for  Seidl  was  to  conduct  all  the  rehearsals  as  well  as  the 
performances,  yet  here  was  a  stranger  with  his  back  towards  the 
stage.  Suddenly  the  lights  were  turned  on  higher,  and  at  the  same 
moment  the  face  of  the  conductor  was  turned  towards  us.  After 
staring  a  moment,  we  all  burst  out  laughing.     The  conductor  was 

ig 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


no  one  else  than  Anton  Seidl.  But  how  changed  he  was  in  appear- 
ance !  At  that  time  he  knew  very  little  English,  so,  wishing  to 
have  his  hair  cut,  he  entered  a  barbershop  and  intimated  panto- 
mimically  that  he  wanted  about  an  inch  cut  off  his  hair.  Then  he 
sat  in  the  chair  and  buried  himself  in  a  newspaper.  When  he  got 
up  and  looked  in  the  glass  he  found  that  the  barber  had  misunder- 
stood his  pantomime  and  cut  his  hair  down  to  an  inch  !  Of 
course,  besides  the  loss  of  his  hair  he  had  to  endure  the  gibes  of 
the  whole  company. 

"During  the  winter  of  1882-83  ^^  undertook  the  great 
Richard  Wagner  Tournee  throughout  Germany  and  gave  the 
Nibelungen  in  all  the  large  cities  of  Germany,  Holland,  Belgium 
and  Italy  with  excellent  result.  We  had  an  excellent  companv, 
including  Reicher-Kindermann,  Marianne  Brandt,  Vogl  and  his 
wife  from  Munich,  Schott,  and  on  some  occasions  Scaria  and 
Materna.  The  orchestra  comprised  56  to  60  excellent  players, 
thoroughly  drilled  by  Anton  Seidl,  who  aroused  with  it  every- 
where demonstrations  of  the  greatest  enthusiasm.  Every  one  did 
homage  to  Anton  Seidl.  At  Berlin  he  was  asked  to  conduct  a 
concert  for  the  benefit  of  the  sufferers  by  the  floods.  The  Em- 
press Augusta  Victoria  had  undertaken  the  patronage  of  this  great 
charity  performance.  The  ladies  of  the  highest  aristocracy  like- 
wise took  part ;  they  wanted  to  please  Anton  Seidl  by  presenting 
him  with  a  costly  watch  studded  with  diamonds,  accompanied  by  a 
dedication  in  the  handwriting  of  the  Empress  herself  Now,  what 
do  you  suppose  Anton  Seidl  did  ?  He  refused  the  costly  gift  and 
declared  himself  amply  rewarded  by  the  letter  from  the  Empress, 
and  prayed  that  the  amount  paid  for  the  watch  be  added  to  the 
fund  collected  for  the  sufferers  by  the  flood.  He  declared  that  the 
letter  of  the  Empress  would  be  kept  sacred  as  an  heirloom  of  his 
family. 

19 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


"  Perhaps  it  was  not  diplomatic  on  his  part  to  refuse  the  gift  of 
these  ladies  who  were  eager  to  do  him  a  service  ;  but  such  conduct 
gives  an  insight  into  his  noble  and  generous  character.  Disinter- 
ested in  the  highest  degree,  he  would  never  do  anything  merely  to 
win  the  applause  of  the  public,  and  in  this  respect  his  simplicity 
was  really  touching.  Often  when  the  audience  persisted,  after 
a  performance  which  had  come  up  to  his  expectations,  in  calling 
him  before  the  curtain, he  afterwards  received  us  in  his  room  at  the 
theatre  with  demonstrations  of  the  greatest  delight  ;  a  happy 
smile  diffused  itself  over  his  usually  serious  features.  When,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  representation  had  not  been  satisfactory, accord- 
ing to  his  high  standard,  no  amount  of  applause  gave  him  satisfac- 
tion. 

AT       AMSTERDAM        AND        BERLIN 

"  At  Amsterdam  I  was  to  sing  the  part  of  Eva  in  the  quintet 
{Meistersinger)  for  the  first  time  in  the  concert  hall.  As  the 
introduction  to  the  quintet  is  not  the  same  in  the  concert  version 
as  in  the  opera — and  I  had  not  sung  the  part  for  some  time — I 
asked  the  theatre  attendant  for  the  music,  but  he  did  not  get  it. 
The  rehearsal  came  on  and  I  had  no  music  ;  so  I  told  the  con- 
ductor, '  Kindly  excuse  me  if  I  make  any  blunders,  for  I  found 
it  absolutely  impossible  to  get  the  music'  Then  you  should 
have  heard  him  telling  me  before  the  whole  orchestra,  '  That  is 
no  excuse ;  when  it  is  a  question  of  the  Meistersinger  you 
ought  to  have  gone  from  one  music  store  to  another  until  you 
found  it.'  I  retorted,  somewhat  sharply,  that  it  was  not  my 
duty  to  go  hunting  scores,  inasmuch  as  my  contract  declared 
that  all  the  music  was  to  be  supplied  to  me.  He  answered,  sar- 
castically, '  Of  course,  a  spoiled  Viennese  princess  like  you  doesn't 
need  to  do  such  a  thing.'      I  was  furious,  for  he  was  the  first  man 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


who  had  been  impolite  to  me.  When  we  sat  down  to  dinner  at 
the  Hotel  Amstel,  where  on  first  nights  we  were  in  the  habit  of 
sitting  at  a  large  table,  I  sat  opposite  him.  I  gave  vent  to  my 
anger  by  telling  him  that  he  overstepped  his  right  by  treating 
me  as  he  did,  and  '  from  to-day,  Mr.  Conductor,  you  are  a  nobody 
to  me.  I  know  my  parts,  thank,  heaven,  and  do  not  require 
your  baton  to  guide  me  ! '  I  kept  my  word,  too,  and  never 
looked  in  his  direction  while  singing,  and  never  made  a  mistake, 
either.  This  again  angered  him,  for  he  could  not  help  seeing 
that  I  was  right.  I  remained  steadfast  for  a  full  fortnight  when, 
one  day,  after  rehearsal,  he  '  threw  a  wheel '  with  his  body,  and 
rolled  around  the  parlor  to  the  utmost  astonishment  of  all  pres- 
ent. Heinrich  Vogl  said  to  me  about  that  time,  '  Remember 
what  I  tell  you,  you  will  surely  be  Seidl's  wife  yet ;  he  is  over 
head  and  ears  in  love  with  you.'  But  I  would  not  agree  to  that, 
declaring  that  I  would  never  marry  anyone  connected  with  a 
theatre;  that  my  chosen  one  would  have  to  wear  a  full  black 
beard,  and  under  no  circumstance  could  I  love  Anton  Seidl,  who 
had  treated  me  so  uncourteously  at  a  rehearsal.  My  dear  Tony 
acknowledged  to  me  later  on  that  he  had  been  angry  only  because 
he  knew  well  that  I  was  perfectly  tamiliar  with  the  quintet,  and  that 
once  for  all  he  had  wished  to  drive  such  whims  out  of  my  head — 
'  Prima  Donna  whims '  he  called  them — but  such  things  were 
not  in  harmony  with  my  natural  simplicity. 

ADVENTURES        IN        ITALY 

"  Our  company  comprised  130  persons,  and  we  always  took 
an  extra  train.  Sometimes  the  whole  company  was  in  the  cars, 
only  Anton  Seidl  was  absent ;  he  slept  so  soundly  towards  morn- 
ing that  he  could  hardly  be  awakened.  This  was  quite  natural, 
for  he  had  to  conduct  every  day  and  make,  in  addition   to  this, 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  many  exhausting  journeys.  In  no  one  city,  BerHn  excepted, 
could  we  give  more  than  the  Tetralogy  and  one  concert,  and 
usually  after  the  performance  we  had  to  take  the  train  and  travel 
night  and  day  for  the  sake  of  giving  a  single  concert.  Then  we 
had  to  travel  again,  and  so  it  went  on  all  the  time.  Once,  at 
Carlsruhe,  we  were  all  in  our  seats  when  the  rumor  circulated, 
'  Seidl  is  not  here  yet.'  The  engineer  waited  five,  ten  minutes, 
then  declared  that  he  could  wait  no  longer,  and,  just  as  the  train 
was  starting,  the  head  of  Anton  Seidl  appeared  at  the  gate  gazing 
at  the  retreating  train.  Everybody  was  excited,  not  knowing 
whether  he  could  take  a  later  train  and  reach  us  in  time,  because 
without  him  we  could  not  have  given  a  performance.  By  good 
fortune  he  succeeded  in  reaching  us  at  the  proper  time,  but 
from  that  time  forward  the  theatre  servant  was  instructed  to  keep 
a  close  watch  on  him,  and  never  to  allow  him  to  sleep  too  long. 
"  Of  his  great  forgetfulness  I  may  cite  the  following  in- 
stances :  On  our  journey  through  Italy  he  bought  a  very  fine 
walking-stick,  which  afforded  him  much  pleasure,  but  when  he 
reached  the  hotel  he  had  left  his  cane  in  the  railroad  car ;  the 
same  thing  happened  with  a  big  Calabrian  hat  which  he  left  at 
the  hotel  and  never  recovered.  The  lost  rubber  shoes  and 
umbrellas  would  furnish  a  store.  In  Venice  he  told  us  that  a 
big  package  of  linen  had  been  directed  to  him  from  Hanover, 
but  as  he  did  not  remember  having  left  any,  it  must  be  a  mis- 
take. It  was  in  the  preceding  September,  when  he  was  at  Han- 
over, that  he  had  intrusted  his  underwear  to  a  washerwoman  ; 
thence  the  bundle  had  been  forwarded  from  city  to  city  until,  finally, 
it  reached  him  at  Venice,  in  April,  seven  months  later.  But  he  had 
not  the  remotest  idea  that  anything  was  missing  in  his  wardrobe. 
The  same  thing  happened,  unfortunately,  with  many  letters  and 
souvenirs  from  Richard  Wagner  ;  he  had  placed  them  with  other 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


documents  in  a  chest.  One  day  a  friend  said  to  him, '  Mr.  Seidl, 
your  trunk  is  burst  open  at  the  railway  station,  and  the  wind  has 
scattered  your  papers.  The  people  are  picking  up  your,  valu- 
ables ;  if  you  hurry  you  may  be  able  to  save  some  of  them.'  On 
that  occasion  he  lost  most  of  his  letters  from  Richard  Wagner,  and 
the  loss  was  a  deep  anguish  to  him. 


WAGNER       S        DEATH 


"  One  evening  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Mr.  Seidl  talked  for  a 
long  time  about  his  disappointment  because  Director  Angelo 
Neumann  had  refused  to  let  him  go  for  the  Christmas  holidays 
to  Venice,  where  Wagner  had  requested  him  to  come  and  assist 
in  the  production  of  his  symphony.  'As  soon  as  this  tournee  is 
over,  I  shall  fly  to  my  master,'  he  said ;  '  I  cannot  endure  the 
separation  any  longer.'  The  following  morning  we  were  all 
thunderstruck  by  the  news  of  Richard  Wagner's  death.  Neu- 
mann, very  naturally,  was  desirous  of  postponing  the  performance 
of  Rheingold  and  Seidl  did  not  wish  to  conduct.  But  Neu- 
mann was  compelled  to  give  the  opera,  and  Seidl  had  to  conduct, 
though  he  did  it  with  a  bleeding  heart.  The  tears  were  streaming 
from  his  eyes  during  the  performance,  and  he  was  utterly  pros- 
trated by  the  sad  news.  On  the  following  morning  he  left  for 
Bayreuth  to  attend  the  funeral.  It  was  his  sad  privilege  to  help, 
with  Hans  Richter,  Mottl,  and  Fischer,  to  carry  the  mortal  re- 
mains of  the  master  to  the  grave. 

"  The  Nibelungen  met  with  extraordinary  success  in  Italy, 
both  artistically  and  pecuniarily.  The  public  of  Venice  (the  first 
Italian  city  we  visited)  was  enthusiastic  from  the  beginning — 
wanted  the  first  scene  of  the  Rhinedaughters  repeated,  nay, 
wanted  even  Mime  to  repeat '  Sorglose  Schmiede,'  and  when  finally 
Frau  Reicher-Kindermann,  with  her  superbly  powerful  and  beau- 
ts 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


tiful  voice,  sang  the  part  of  Erda,  the  applause  threatened  to  last 
forever.  The  IValkure  met  with  still  greater  success;  Schott 
and  I  were,  after  the  first  act,  called  out  eight  times  :  the  public 
kept  on  shouting  bis!  bis!  and  wanted  to  hear  the  first  act  a 
second  time.  Thus  our  success  went  on  increasing ;  Anton 
Seidl  was  lauded  to  the  skies  by  press  and  public.  Everyone 
was  wondering  how  he  could,  with  such  a  small  orchestra,  pro- 
duce such  wonderful  results;  (Italian  orchestras  consist  of  lOO 
or  more  performers).  Seidl  was  in  everybody's  mouth ;  he 
was  really  the  main  attraction  of  the  undertaking.  If  he  sat  in  a 
restaurant  he  would  find  himself  surrounded  by  the  elite  of  the 
local  society.  Garlands  of  laurel  leaves  were  innumerable.  Many 
a  man  after  such  triumphs  would  have  become  vain  and  proud. 
Not  so  Seidl,  who  remained  the  same  modest  and  retiring  man 
he  had  been  before,  happy,  and  sufficiently  rewarded  in  obtaining 
from  his  band  of  artists  the  best  possible  results.  Illuminations 
and  serenades  were  arranged  for  the  artists.  Imagine  how  delight- 
ful it  was  for  us  ladies  to  return  home  after  a  concert  covered 
with  flowers  in  our  beautifully  decorated  gondolas.  For  me,  who 
was  a  young  girl,  it  was  particularly  romantic  and  enjoyable. 

MORE        HONORS        FOR        SEIDL 

"  In  front  of  the  Yendramin  Palace,  in  which  Richard  Wag- 
ner closed  his  eyes  for  the  last  time  our  orchestra  played  the 
funeral  march  from  the  Gotterddmmerung.  The  whole  Grand 
Canal  was  covered  with  thousands  of  gondolas.  On  our  return 
Anton  Seidl  received  at  the  hands  of  beautiful  women  bouquets  of 
roses,  but  in  his  profound  grief  at  the  loss  of  his  master  he  hardly 
noticed  these  offerings.  Numerous  invitations  were  sent  to  him, 
and  it  was  intimated  to  him  that  the  acceptance  of  at  least  a  few 
would  be  to  his  interest,  as  the  people  intended  to  bestow  an  order 

^4- 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


on  him  ;  but  he  declined  everything.  He  did  not  care  for  such 
things,  and  was  at  that  time  so  shy  that  he  then,  as  always, 
avoided  everything  in  the  way  of  ostentation — not  always  to  his 
advantage. 

"  He  always  disapproved  of  repetitions,  and  more  especi- 
ally so  in  the  works  of  his  beloved  master.  The  death  march  in 
the  Gbtterddmmerung,  however,  and  the  Waldweben  in  Sieg- 
fried, he  was  compelled  to  repeat  because  the  public  refused  to 
stop  applauding.  Like  marble  he  stood  there  to  show  the  pub- 
lic that  interruptions  were  out  of  place  and  that  the  opera  must 
not  be  marred  in  its  continuity.  But  the  public  was  not  satis- 
fied until  these  numbers  were  repeated.  In  Bologna,  when  the 
curtain  had  fallen  on  the  funeral  march,  a  big  crown  of  silver 
laurel  leaves  was  handed  to  him  from  the  stage,  the  tribute  of  a 
number  of  music-lovers.  We  ladies  received  on  this  occasion 
bouquets  of  such  dimensions  that  we  were  not  able  to  stow  them 
away  in  the  carriages  and  could  only  pick  out  a  few  of  the  hand- 
somest flowers,  leaving  the  rest.  And  so  our  journey  through 
Italy  was  a  succession  of  triumphs  for  the  music  of  Richard 
Wagner.  In  Bologna  it  was  when  one  forenoon  there  was  a 
knock  at  my  door,  and  on  my  saying,  '  Come  in,'  Anton  Seidl 
stood  there,  visibly  embarrassed,  with  a  beautiful  bouquet  which 
he  had  gathered  for  me  with  his  own  hands.  He  asked  me  if 
I  would  consent  to  become  his  partner  in  life  and  share  with  him 
pleasure  and  sorrow.  I  do  not  know  myself  how  love  for  him 
crept  into  my  heart  without  my  being  aware  of  it,  but  I  felt  it 
was  a  love  such  as  we  experience  but  once  in  a  lifetime.  We  were 
betrothed  without  informing  anyone,  but  the  fact  became  known 
a  couple  of  weeks  later  in  Turin,  where  we  exchanged  rings. 
How  touching  it  was  when,  walking  along  the  beach,  he  would 
stoop  to  gather   some  beautiful  shells,  or  at  other  times  to  pick 

»5 


ANTON       SEIDL^ A       MEMORIAL 


flowers  for  me.  He  had  never  done  such  things  before,  nor  did 
he  at  any  former  time  wear  a  ring  or  a  button-hole  bouquet ;  all 
this  was  too  showy  for  him,  but  he  did  it  for  me  after  our  wedding. 
Jealous  he  was  beyond  the  expression  of  words.  I  was  so  success- 
ful at  that  time  that  ofl^ers  of  engagements  for  short  or  long  seasons 
fairly  showered  upon  me  in  every  city;  poems  were  dedicated  to 
me  and  bouquets  without  number  sent ;  but  the  moment  anyone 
looked  at  me  he  was  in  a  rage.  At  Rome  the  German  ambass- 
ador (I  think  it  was  Baron  Keudell)  gave  a  grand  festival  to 
which  all  the  artists  were  invited  ;  in  fact,  it  was  given  in  our 
honor.  But  Anton  Seidl  was  absent.  It  was  also  in  Rome  that 
the  beautiful  Queen  Margarita  of  Italy  called  him  in  presence 
of  the  whole  public  to  confer  upon  him  her  thanks  and  the  as- 
surance of  her  profound  appreciation  of  his  merits.  No  one  else 
of  the  company  of  artists  was  thus  honored,  and  the  circumstance 
awakened  considerable  jealousy  among  many  of  them. 

MADAME        DE        LUCCA 

"  One  of  his  greatest  admirers  was  Madame  de  Lucca,  a  pub- 
lisher of  music  at  Milan,  a  lady  who  had  frequently  visited  Wag- 
ner at  Bayreuth,  and  was  one  of  his  most  devoted  followers. 
This  lady  travelled  with  us  in  Italy  from  city  to  city,  unwilling 
to  miss  a  single  performance  ;  she  was  very  kind  to  me  and 
came  very  near  changing  my  whole  career  some  years  previous 
to  the  events  I  have  just  related.  In  1876,  when  I  was  a  pupil 
of  Hans  Richter,  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  able  to  attend 
all  the  rehearsals  for  the  Nibelung  festival  in  the  Wagner  theatre. 

"  One  afternoon  I  was  singing  my  part  when  someone 
knocked  at  my  door,  and  on  my  opening  the  door  two  ladies 
and  three  gentlemen  came  in.  One  of  the  ladies  was  Madame  de 
Lucca,  a  short  stout  brunette,  and  the  other  a  companion  of  hers, 

26 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  only  one  in  the  party  who  spoke  German.  She  explained  to 
me  that  Madame  de  Lucca  had  heard  me  sing,  and  was  delighted 
with  my  voice.  She  had  come  with  a  view  to  propose  my  going 
with  her  to  Italy,  where  she  would  give  me  the  most  competent 
teachers  and  treat  me  as  her  own  child,  and  that  it  would  not  cost 
me  one  penny.  One  of  the  gentlemen  present,  the  Director  of 
the  Scala  Theatre  in  Milan,  wanted  me  at  once  to  sign  a  contract 
that  I  would,  in  the  following  year,  appear  at  the  Scala  in  the 
parts  of  Elsa,  Elizabeth,  Senta,  and  Marguerite,  which  I  was  to 
sing  in  Italian,  but  I  was  not  to  be  called  upon  to  sing  in  any 
Italian  operas.  And  this  magnificent  offer  I  declined  on  the  ad- 
vice of  Hans  Richter,  who  wished  to  preserve  me  for  the  German 
stage.  Had  I  accepted,  I  am  sure  I  should  have  had  a  splendid 
future  before  me. 

"  When  at  Venice,  in  the  Theatre  Fenice,  after  the  curtain 
fell  on  the  first  act  of  Die  Walkiire,  a  lady  came  and  embraced 
and  kissed  me  heartily ;  that  was  Madame  de  Lucca,  who  visited 
me  often  and  would  sit  for  hours  at  my  side,  although  we  could 
not  speak  to  one  another.  She  also  sent  me  the  most  beautiful 
flowers.  She  asked  me  once  to  urge  Mr.  Seidl  to  accept  at  least 
one  invitation,  in  the  course  of  which  he  was  to  be  decorated 
with  an  order,  but  I  could  not  prevail  upon  him  to  go. 

MARRIAGE 

"  After  the  Wagner  Theatre  had  completed  its  long  series 
of  performances,  Anton  Seidl  accepted  an  engagement  under 
Angelo  Neumann,  at  Bremen,  whither  I  went  to  join  him  as 
his  wife  on  the  29th  of  February,  1 884.  We  were  married  in  the 
Cathedral  at  Frankfort,  where  I  had  an  engagement.  The  fact 
of  our  getting  married  on  the  29th  of  February,  and  a  Friday, 
caused  considerable  comment  amongst  our  friends  and  acquaint- 

»7 


ANTON       SEIUL  A        MEMORIAL 


ances,  but  for  me  this  Friday  proved  a  day  of  good  luck,  and, 
even  if  I  had  been  superstitious  on  the  subject,  I  could  not  have 
changed  the  date,  as  I  would  otherwise  have  been  compelled  to 
stay  three  years  longer  at  Frankfort. 

"  Anton  Seidl  did  not  arrive  at  Frankfort  till  the  day  preced- 
ing our  wedding.  The  ladies  of  the  house  where  I  lived  asked 
him  if  he  had  ordered  the  wedding  bouquet.  Of  such  things  he 
naturally  had  not  the  remotest  idea.  Thoroughly  frightened,  he 
replied  that  he  was  absolutely  ignorant,  and  asked  what  kind  of 
flowers  he  was  to  order.  The  ladies  laughed  heartily  at  his  dis- 
comfiture, and  told  him  that  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  order  a 
bridal  bouquet  at  the  florist's,  and  the  florist  would  do  the  rest. 
On  our  arrival  at  Bremen  we  were  received  with  the  highest  dis- 
tinction ;  our  apartments  looked  like  flower  gardens  ;  the  orches- 
tra gave  us  a  serenade  that  evening  and  the  chorus  singers  another 
one  the  following  morning. 

A       YEAR       IN        NEW       YORK 

"  My  husband  had  dreamed  so  often  about  America  that  an 
irresistible  power  drew  him  towards  that  country,  and  he  felt  con- 
vinced that  he  would  find  there  a  fine  opening  for  his  work. 
Here  I  must  state  that  when  I  was  a  young  girl,  I  bound  myself 
in  my  contracts  with  Neumann  to  visit  all  countries  where  he 
should  send  me  excepting  America.  I  do  not  know  whether  it 
was  the  fear  of  the  ocean  or  the  instinctive  knowledge  that  the 
climate  would  not  agree  with  me,  and  that  I  should  soon  lose  my 
voice ;  at  any  rate,  I  had  in  all  my  contracts  caused  the  word 
'  America  '  to  be  cancelled.  Then  came  Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch, 
who  oflfered  me  an  engagement  for  New  York.  I  should  have 
preferred  to  say  '  No,'  but  I  loved  my  husband  so  dearly  that  for 
his  sake  I  should  not  only  have  gone  to  America  but  anywhere. 

z8 


Mrs.  Seidl  as  Eva  in  "  Meistersinger 
1886 


FROM       A       PHOTOGRAPH       BY       FALPC 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


I  should  have  willingly  given  up  my  life  tor  him  !  My  only 
reason  for  coming  was  to  study  the  peculiarities  of  the  country 
and  see  what  chance  my  husband  might  have  for  a  concert  tour. 
At  that  time  I  felt  dreadfully  lonesome,  and  could  hardly  wait 
for  the  time  when  we  should  start  on  our  return  journey.  My 
desire  to  leave  was  so  intense  that,  when  on  a  Friday  I  sang  the 
part  of  Sieglinde  for  the  last  time,  I  immediately  bought  a  ticket 
for  the  English  steamer  so  as  to  be  able  to  leave  New  York  the 
next  morning,  for  with  my  ticket  from  Dr.  Damrosch  I  could  not 
have  left  till  the  following  Wednesday.  By  the  sudden  death  of 
Dr.  Damrosch  everything  was  of  course  changed.  Director 
Stanton  made  my  husband  an  offer  to  become  first  conductor  of 
the  Metropolitan  Opera,  and  in  consequence  he  came  to  New 
York  in  the  following  autumn. 

"  I  am  still  convinced  that  a  mysterious  attraction  drew  him 
to  New  York,  for  the  moment  he  saw  the  harbor  he  was  de- 
lighted ;  the  elevated  railroad  he  found  imposing  ;  even  the  large 
telegraph  poles  seemed  to  him  beautiful.  We  were  still  in  the 
carriage  when  he  exclaimed  :  '  This  is  magnificent !  I  feel  that 
I  shall  get  along  well  here.'  When  he  saw  the  big  Opera  House 
he  was  delighted  with  his  future  sphere  of  activity.  He  was  en- 
chanted also  with  the  idea  of  being  the  first  to  introduce  in  New 
York  the  great  works  of  his  master — to  make  them  acquainted 
with  the  Meistersinger,  Rheingold,  Siegfried,  Gdtterddmmerung  and 
'Tristan." 

So  far  Mrs.  Seidl's  narrative. 

GOLDEN   AGE   OF   GERMAN   OPERA 

The  circumstances  which  led  to  the  substitution  of  German 
for  Italian  Opera  at  the  Metropolitan,  and  thus  to  Anton  Seidl's 
engagement,   need   not   be   dwelt   on  here   in   detail.     In  brief, 

29 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Messrs.  Abbey  &  Grau  lost  such  an  amazing  sum  of  money — 
about  a  quarter  of  a  million — during  the  first  season  in  the  New 
Opera  House,  though  their  company  included  such  famous 
singers  as  Nilsson,  Campanini,  Scalchi,  that  they  were  unwilling 
to  risk  another  season.  Unwilling  to  close  their  house — which 
would  have  meant  a  triumph  for  the  rival  Academy  of  Music — 
the  stockholders  decided  to  assume  all  risks  themselves  and  try 
once  more.  Some  of  the  newspapers  had  been  persistently  clam- 
oring for  Wagner  in  the  original,  and  for  other  German  operas. 
The  suggestion  was  accordingly  made  that  German  opera  should 
be  given  a  trial,  as  that  would  not  conflict  so  directly  with  the 
Italian  opera  at  the  Academy.  Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch  was 
secured  as  conductor  and  sent  to  Germany  to  engage  the  singers. 
He  succeeded  in  securing  no  less  eminent  a  Wagnerian  singer 
than  Frau  Materna ;  but,  apart  from  that,  he  gave  up  the  star- 
system  and  tried  to  win  success  by  giving  the  German  master- 
works  with  fine  ensembles  and  at  reasonable  prices  of  admission. 
The  operas  produced  were  Tannh'duser,  Lohengrin,  fValkiire, 
Freischutz,  Fidelia,  Les  Huguenots,  IVilliam  Tell,  Don  Giovanni,  Le 
Prophete,  Masaniello,  La  Juive  and  Rigoletto.  I  remember  how 
anxious  and  nervous  everybody  was  regarding  this  enterprise  ;  let- 
ters came  to  me  begging  me  to  be  as  gentle  toward  it  as  my  critical 
conscience  would  allow  me  to  be.  But  the  success  of  the  first  season 
of  German  opera  was  so  great  as  to  astonish  the  most  sanguine. 
In  place  of  the  quarter  of  a  million  deficit  of  the  previous  season, 
the  stockholder-managers  had  only  ^40,000  to  pay — a  mere 
bagatelle  to  them. 

In  the  meantime  Dr.  Damrosch  had  died  on  the  battlefield, 
but  he  died  as  a  victorious  general.  It  was  therefore  decided  to 
continue  German  opera  for  at  least  one  more  season,  and  a  salaried 
manager  was  chosen  in  the  person  of  Edmund  C.  Stanton,  who 

30 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


went  to  Europe  and  brought  back  three  first-class  Wagner 
singers — Lilli  Lehmann,  Marianne  Brandt  and  Emil  Fischer — 
and,  most  important  of  all,  a  new  conductor,  Anton  Seidl,  whom 
Wagner  himself  had,  as  we  have  seen,  during  the  last  years  of 
his  life,  favored  above  all  other  interpreters  of  his  music,  and  under 
whose  inspired  guidance  Wagner  opera  was  destined  to 
become  a  tidal  wave  that  swept  nearly  everything  else  from  the 
stage. 

During  the  first  year  of  German  opera  at  the  Metropolitan, 
Colonel  Mapleson  kept  up  his  rivalry  at  the  Academy  of  Music, 
with  Patti  and  Nevada  as  his  bright  particular  stars.  But  finally 
he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  the  field.  "  I  cannot  fight  Wall 
Street,"  he  exclaimed.  He  might  have  added  "  and  Wagner." 
It  used  to  be  one  of  Mapleson's  favorite  maxims  that  "  Wagner 
spells  ruin."  He  was  quite  right,  from  his  point  of  view  ;  for, 
given  in  his  way,  with  colorature  singers  and  incompetent  con- 
ductors, Wagner's  operas  were,  indeed,  bound  to  fail.  But  the 
Wagnerites  insisted  that  if  these  •peras  were  given  in  New  York 
as  they  were  in  Germany,  they  w«uld  succeed  here,  too.  The 
performances  at  the  Metropolitan  proved  this,  and  Mapleson 
was  refuted  and  routed. 

DEBUT       IN        NEW       YORK 

Anton  Seidl  made  his  debut  at  the  Metropolitan  ©pera 
House  on  November  23,  1885.  Interesting  particulars  regard- 
ing this  performance  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Steinberg's  article.  It 
was  universally  conceded  that,  often  as  Lohengrin  had  been 
heard  in  New  York,  its  p«etic  beauties  and  its  thrilling  climaxes 
had  never  been  brought  •ut  as  on  this  occasion.  Everybody 
congratulated  Mr.  Stanton  •n  his  good  luck  in  securing  as  his 
conductor  the  man  of  whom  Wagner  had  said  that,  if  Hans 

3' 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Richter  had  fallen  ill  before  or  during  the  first  Bayreuth  festival, 
he  would  have  unhesitatingly  placed  the  performances  under  his 
guidance,*  though  he  was  then  but  twenty-six  years  old  ;  the  man 
of  whom  he  wrote,  not  long  before  his  death,  "  I  rely  on  you 
above  all  others  "  ;  the  man  who  had  first  introduced  the  Ni- 
belung  dramas  in  Berlin,  and  many  other  German  cities,  as  well  as 
in  five  European  countries — England,  Belgium,  Italy,  Hungary, 
Holland — and  whose  privilege  it  was  now  to  do  the  same  for 
them  in  America,  with  the  exception  of  Die  tValkiire,  which  had 
been  done  before.  Under  his  direction  Die  Meistersinger  had  its 
first  American  hearing  on  January  4,  1886;  Tristan  and  Isolde 
on  December  i,  1886;  Siegfried  on  November  9,  1887;  Die 
Gotterdammerung  on  January  25,  1888;  Rheingold,  January  4, 
1889.  Each  of  these  dramas  was  the  lion  of  the  season  in  which 
it  was  produced,  and  each  one  established  Mr.  Seidl  more  firmly 
as  a  favorite  of  the  public.  As  a  writer  in  the  Sun  has  remarked, 
"  No  conductor  was  ever  so  popular  with  a  mass  of  people  in 
this  city  as  Mr.  Seidl  was.  Whether  he  appeared  before  a 
large  audience  at  the  Metropolitan  or  at  a  concert  of  less  im- 
portance he  was  certain  to  be  greeted  with  applause.  He  was 
well  known  by  sight  to  more  New  Yorkers  than  any  other 
musician  in  this  city,  and  he  was  recognized  everywhere  in 
public." 

WAGNERIAN   CONQUEST   OF   NEW   YORK 

It  is  true  that  in  these  great  successes  for  his  master  he 
was  assisted  in  turn  by  all  the  eminent  singers  of  Germany  ; 
but  in  Wagner's  operas  the  best  cast  is  paralyzed  if  the  con- 
ductor is  second-rate  ;  he  is  the  pilot  who  leads  the  ship  through 
all  the  difficulties,  and  to  Mr.  Seidl,  therefore,  is  due  special  honor 

*  See  the  facsimile  of  Wagner's  certificate  printed  in  this  vohime. 

3* 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


among  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  Wagnerian  conquest  of 
New  York. 

Seven  years  German  opera  held  the  fort,  and  more  and  more 
did  Wagner  come  to  the  front.  In  the  season  of  1889-90,  for 
instance,  the  box-office  receipts  for  Wagnerian  performances  were 
$121,565,  while  those  for  all  other  performances  combined  were 
only  183,982.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  public  got  into  such  a 
state  of  mind  that  it  practically  refused  to  attend  any  operas  but 
Wagner's  in  paying  numbers.  This  was  almost  too  much  of  a 
good  thing,  even  for  the  full-blooded  Wagnerites,  who  used  to  be 
maligned  as  persons  who  wanted  Wagner,  the  whole  of  Wagner 
and  nothing  but  Wagner  on  the  operatic  stage,  but  who,  in  truth, 
were  among  the  first  to  crave  more  variety  in  the  repertoire. 
That  the  stockholders  finally  got  tired  of  this  state  of  affairs  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  Many  of  them  did  not  care  for  German 
opera  at  all,  but  merely  tolerated  it  because  it  seemed  to  pay  bet- 
ter than  anything  else.  But,  although  the  advanced  subscription 
had  gradually  grown  from  a  few  thousand  a  year  to  as  much  as 
$85,000,  the  deficit  grew  larger  every  year,  for  reasons  unknown 
to  the  public,  and  finally  it  was  decided  to  try  a  change  and  go 
back  to  Italian  opera. 

GERMAN        OPERA        BANISHED 

This  decision  was  arrived  at  in  secret  conclave,  the  directors 
being  apparently  afraid  of  a  general  outcry  if  they  declared  their 
intentions  openly.  Loud  were  the  wails  in  the  Wagner  camp, 
for  no  one  could  foresee  that  the  change  w»uld  in  the  end  only 
plant  Wagner  more  firmly  in  New  York  s«il,  through  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  great  singers  who  had  been  brought  over  for  the 
express  purpose  of  exterminating  Wagner. 

For  Anton  Seidl  the  cessation  of  German  opera  was  a  most 

33 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


serious  matter.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  he  was  in  1891 
elected  as  conductor  of  the  Philharmonic  Society,  in  place  of  Mr. 
Theodore  Thomas,  who  had  accepted  a  very  tempting  offer  to 
found  an  orchestra  in  Chicago,  he  would  have  been  without  em- 
ployment or  income,  and  would  have  doubtless  returned  to  Ger- 
many. Under  his  conductorship  the  Philharmonic  Society  flour- 
ished immensely. 

PHILHARMONIC        PROSPERITY 

When  IVIr.  Theodore  Thomas  assumed  regular  control  of 
the  Philharmonic  (1879-80),  the  first  year's  receipts  were  $18,735 
— an  advance  of  3i  1,578  over  the  preceding  season,  when  Neuen- 
dorf?" conducted.  Every  subsequent  year  saw  an  increase  until  in 
Mr.  Thomas's  last  year  the  sum  of  $2 8,246  was  reached.  When 
Mr.  Thomas  went  to  Chicago,  most  of  his  friends  remained  true 
to  the  Philharmonic,  while  the  accession  of  Mr.  Seidl's  friends  and 
the  growth  of  the  city  swelled  the  number.  After  Mr.  Seidl  be- 
came leader,  the  receipts  were  $29,306,  $32,574,  $30,111, 
$32,681,  $34,839,  $34,324.  In  consequence  of  this  growing 
prosperity,  the  directors  decided,  in  1897,  to  add  two  extra  con- 
certs. They  did  so  with  considerable  misgiving,  fearing  that  not 
a  few  subscribers  might  desert  them.  But  the  contrary  proved  to 
be  true.  Whereas  the  concerts  were  increased  ;i2  P^*"  cent.,  the 
subscriptions  increased  60  per  cent.,  and  the  receipts  for  the  sea- 
son's sixteen  concerts  amounted  to  almost  $50,000. 

Of  Mr.  Seidl's  admirable  work  as  conductor  of  this  society 
I  shall  speak  in  another  chapter  of  this  volume.  The  steadily 
growing  popularity  of  its  concerts  under  his  baton  shows  what  the 
most  highly  educated  music-lovers  of  New  York  thought  of  him 
in  a  capacity  so  difFerent  from  his  operatic  sphere.  Professor 
Edward  A.  MacDowell  once  remarked  that  there  was  probably  no 

34 


Anton  Seidl 
iSSS 


P  II  a  T  O  G  K  A  l"  H 


VV  1  L  H  E  L  M 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Other  contemporary  musician  so  great  both  as  operatic  and  con- 
cert conductor.  And  it  is  to  be  noted  specially  that  Anton  Seidl 
won  this  preeminence  and  popularity  in  the  concert  hall  through 
his  interpretations  of  other  masters  than  his  own  ;  for  of  Wagner's 
works,  only  two  or  three  were  played  by  the  Philharmonic  each 
season.  Every  conductor  has  his  prejudices  and  his  special  excel- 
lences, and  no  musician  has  ever  interpreted  all  composers  equally 
well.  Anton  Seidl  had  his  weak  points  and  his  careless  days,  but 
I  can  say  from  an  experience  which  includes  nearly  all  the  great 
conductors  of  the  last  twenty-five  years,  that  I  have  never  known 
one  so  many-sided  as  he  was. 

Besides  the  Philharmonic  he  also  conducted  for  a  number 
of  years  a  series  of  concerts  under  the  auspices  of  the  Seidl  So- 
ciety. These  were  given  in  Brooklyn  in  winter  and  at  Brighton 
Beach  in  summer.  Sometimes  he  visited  other  cities  with  his 
Metropolitan  Orchestra,  and  also  gave  extra  series  in  New  York, 
at  the  Lenox  Lyceum  and  elsewhere.  Though  his  orchestra  was 
not  large,  and  though  he  seldom  had  money  enough  to  get  all  the 
rehearsals  he  wanted,  he  achieved  remarkable  results.  Some  of 
the  most  delightful  concerts  I  have  ever  heard  were  those  given 
on  Sunday  nights  at  the  Lenox  Lyceum.  It  was  often  remarked 
in  those  days  that  Mr.  Seidl  could  achieve  finer  results  with  forty 
players  than  most  conductors  with  eight^^ 

There  were  many  difficulties  and  rivalries  against  which  An- 
ton Seidl  had  to  contend  in  the  years  when  he  had  to  depend  on 
concerts  for  his  living.  He  was  also  obliged  to  witness  two  seasons 
of  special  Wagner  performances  in  which  he,  the  greatest  interpre- 
ter of  these  operas,  could  not  have  participated  except  in  a  way  not 
consonant  with  his  dignit)^  and  his  artistic  conscience.  Moreover, 
for  two  or  three  years  New  York  witnessed  the  strange  spectacle 
of  having  Wagner's  operas  conducted  at  the  Metropolitan  by  an 

35 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Italian,  while  Wagner's  favorite  conductor  was  engaged  to  preside 
over  the  Sunday  popular  concerts  !  He  was  a  very  unhappy  man 
in  those  years  ;  he  gave  way  to  fits  of  despondency  that  helped 
to  undermine  his  health.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  had  it  not 
been  for  those  years  of  neglect,  when  everything  seemed  to  con- 
spire against  him,  he  would  be  alive  and  well  to-day.  It  is  sad  to 
think,  that  the  victims  of  circumstances  are  usually  the  world's 
best  men. 

REINSTATED       AT      THE       METROPOLITAN 

Before  this  tragic  end  came,  however,  Anton  Seidl's  life  once 
more  illustrated  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest.  Help 
came  from  two  directions.  The  admirers  of  the  great  conductor, 
feeling  that  things  had  gone  too  far,  got  up  a  monster  petition 
with  several  thousand  signatures  begging  that  Anton  Seidl  be  re- 
stored to  the  conductorship  of  the  Metropolitan  for  at  least  the 
Wagner  operas.  In  the  mean  time  another  force  was  at  work 
that  in  the  end  would  have  brought  about  the  same  result  un- 
aided. When  German  opera  was  displaced  by  Italian,  M.  Jean 
de  Reszke  was  imported  with  others,  as  an  antidote  to  Wagner. 
He  had  up  to  that  time  appeared  in  only  one  Wagner  opera, 
Lohengrin.  Wonderful  artist  as  he  was,  he  gradually  saw 
what  new  worlds  there  were  for  him  to  conquer,  and  having  heard 
Mr.  Seidl  conduct  some  of  the  other  operas  on  special  occasions, 
he  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  devote  himself  to  the  Wag- 
ner operas  and  music  drama  thereafter,  and  that  Anton  Seidl 
must  conduct  them.  The  will  of  the  greatest  of  tenors  is  law. 
I  know  that  on  one  occasion  M.  Jean  de  Reszke  made  Mr. 
Grau  and  Mr.  Seidl  sign  a  contract  in  his  own  room,  so  that  no 
accident  might  frustrate  his  wishes. 

Future  generations  will  read  with  amazement  that  New  York 

36 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


listened  for  years  to  second-  and  third-rate  performances  of  Wag- 
ner's great  works  while  Anton  Seidl  was  looking  on  idle,  neg- 
lected and  despondent.  A  short  extract  from  one  of  my  criticisms 
in  the  Evening  Post  will  show  what  a  peculiar  state  of  affairs  pre- 
vailed even  after  Mr.  Seidl  was  re-engaged  for  some  of  the 
operas : 

"  Last  night,  for  the  first  time  this  season,  Mr.  Grau  ap- 
plied to  a  Wagner  opera  the  same  principle  that  he  applies  to 
all  the  other  operas  on  the  regular  nights — that  of  putting  the 
best  person  in  his  special  place.  Lohengrin  was  given  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Anton  Seidl,  and  the  success,  both  financial 
and  artistic,  was  so  overwhelming  that  it  will  be  very  strange 
indeed  if  Wagner  ever  fails  in  future  seasons  to  have  the  same 
justice  meted  out  to  him  as  is  given  to  Verdi,  Gounod  and  Bizet. 
Three  days  ago  seats  for  most  parts  of  the  house  were  not  to  be 
had  for  love  or  money,  and  the  auditorium  last  evening  was 
simply  packed  up  to  the  ceiling.  It  was  a  refined  audience,  too  ; 
there  were  only  two  large  hats  in  the  whole  parquet,  conversa 
tion  was  hushed,  untimely  applause  hissed  down ;  but  when  the 
proper  time  for  applause  came,  it  was  given  with  a  sincerity  and 
enthusiasm  not  witnessed  at  any  other  performance  this  year. 

"  It  was  another  object  lesson  as  regards  the  truth  of  the 
maxim  we  have  repeatedly  preached — that  unless  the  conductor 
is  first-class  the  singers  cannot  do  themselves  justice  and  fail  to 
get  the  applause  due  them.  The  cast  of  Lohengrin  was  ex- 
cellent, but  no  better  than  that  of  Die  Meistersinger  ;  the  dif- 
ference in  the  reception  of  these  works  was  that  one  was  given, 
apathetically,  by  a  conductor  who  did  not  reveal  half  the  beauties 
of  the  score,  whereas  Lohengrin  was  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Seidl, 
who  infused  into  it  all  the  energy  and  dramatic  fire  of  his  Hun- 
garian  spirit.     Other    conductors   on   Wagnerian   evenings   are 

37 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


usually  received  in  chilling  silence,  while  he,  last  evening,  was  at 
his  first  appearance  received  with  applause  so  prolonged  that  he 
had  to  get  up  and  bow  three  times  ;  and  after  the  second  act 
he  had  to  come  out  again  and  again  with  the  singers.  '  One 
must  be  blind  and  deaf,'  wrote  M.  Jean  de  Reske  to  a  friend 
last  year,  '  not  to  perceive  how  the  New  York  public  adores 
Mr.  Seidl.'  Blind  and  deaf,  indeed  ;  yet  it  requires  constant 
fighting  against  hostile  influences  to  keep  him  in  his  proper  place. 
It  is  a  most  extraordinary  state  of  affairs." 

BELOVED        BY       HIS       SINGERS 

M.  Jean  de  Reske's  enthusiasm  for  Mr.  Seidl  was  shared 
by  all  the  other  artists,  some  of  whom  have  written  for  this 
volume  their  appreciations  of  his  genius.  Several  of  the  greatest 
singers  of  the  centurv  have  told  me  that  they  sometimes  almost 
forgot  to  continue  their  parts,  so  utterly  absorbed  and  fascinated 
were  they  by  the  pathos  and  emotional  fervor  of  his  orchestral 
eloquence.  Albert  Niemann,  the  greatest  Wagnerian  tenor  of  his 
day,  once  said  to  me  as  we  were  walking  down  Broadway  : 

"  You  speak  of  the  profound  impression  the  third  act  of 
Tristan  made  on  you  ;  but  I  can  hardly  believe  that  it  stirs 
you  quite  as  profoundly  as  it  does  me.  Strong  man  as  I  am,  I 
am  not  ashamed  to  confess  that  on  several  occasions  in  this  act 
my  singing  has  been  marred  by  sobs  and  tears  which  I  could  not 
suppress. 

"  There  is  nothing  grander  in  Shakspere,  in  ^schylus,  than 
the  third  act  of  Tristan.  But  it  is  a  tremendous  task  to  sing 
it — an  enormous  burden  on  the  memory.  I  have  sung  Tristan 
about  forty  times,  yet  this  very  morning  Seidl  and  I  studied  the 
score  together.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  disappointed  I  am  that 
Seidl  did  not  accept  the  offer  of  the  conductorship  of  the  Berlin 

38 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Opera.  Half  the  labor  and  responsibility  of  singing  is  taken  from 
our  shoulders  by  such  a  leader.  To  give  an  illustration,  this  even- 
ing, for  a  second  only,  I  was  at  a  loss  for  my  next  words.  Seidl 
felt  it ;  I  looked  at  him,  read  the  words  on  his  lips,  and  every- 
thing went  along  smoothly." 

The  late  Max  Alvary  often  spoke  to  me  in  the  same  strain, 
endorsing  the  sentiment  I  have  just  italicized.  He  deplored — 
nay,  actually  apologized  for — the  necessity  he  was  placed  under 
of  singing  in  this  country  under  another  conductor  when  Anton 
Seidl  was  present  and  unemployed.  One  day  he  thus  vividly 
illustrated  the  difference  it  makes  to  a  singer  whether  he  has 
a  first-rate  or  a  second-  or  third-rate  leader  :  "  After  a  certain  per- 
formance," he  said,  "  the  conductor  reproached  me  for  not  com- 
ing in  with  his  first  beat  at  a  certain  place.  '  The  first  beat !  '  I 
angrily  retorted.  '  I  am  an  actor — I  have  no  time  to  watch  your 
beats.  I  was  waiting  for  a  big  wave  of  sound  to  plunge  into  it 
with  my  voice  ;  but  the  wave  did  not  come.'  When  Mr.  Seidl 
conducts,"  he  added  to  me,  "  these  waves  of  sound,  be  they  large 
or  small,  never  fail  to  rise." 

STAGE        MANAGEMENT 

While  thus  the  relations  between  Anton  Seidl  and  the  great 
singers  was  one  of  genuine  admiration  on  both  sides,  there  was  one 
side  of  the  New  York  performances  that  often  annoyed  the  great 
conductor.  When  everything  else  was  so  near  perfection,  it  dis- 
tressed him  to  see  things  so  bungled  on  the  stage  owing  to  incom- 
petent or  careless  stage  management.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  department  in  which  Wagner  took  special  care  to  instruct 
Anton  Seidl  was  the  correspondence  of  the  various  things  that 
happen  on  the  stage  with  the  music  which  illustrates  them.  I  have 
before  me  a  letter  which  Seidl  wrote  to  Wagner,  but  never  finished 

39 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


or  forwarded,  which  illustrates  the  amazing  minuteness  with  which 
he  attended  to  every  detail.  I  should  like  to  insert  this  letter  here 
were  it  not  that  it  includes  some  rather  pointed  remarks  about  per- 
sons still  living.  It  was  written  in  Vienna,  where  Wagner  had 
sent  him,  in  1878,  to  serve  as  "  correpetitor,"  and  gives  an  amus- 
ing account  of  the  stupid  cuts  that  had  been  made  ;  the  "  beauti- 
ful "  dragon  which  was  to  be  so  great  an  improvement  on  Bay- 
reuth,  but  would  not  work  until  it  was  altered  in  accordance  with 
Wagner's  directions  ;  and  the  troubles  with  the  singers.  Director 
Jauner,  who,  when  he  first  saw  the  dragon,  said  to  Seidl  triumph- 
antly, "  Na,  ist  der  nicht  scheener  als  der  in  Bayreuth  ?  "  was 
obliged  to  confess  at  last  that  a  "beautiful"  dragon  was  not 
exactly  what  was  wanted,  and  he  confessed  that  "  zu  allerletzt  hat 
Wagner  doch  immer  recht  "  (after  all, in  the  end,  Wagner  is  always 
right). 

Had  the  managers  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  heeded 
the  wish  Wagner  expressed  to  Angelo  Neumann,  that "  he  should 
be  allowed,  even  in  matters  of  stage  management,  more  authority 
than  is  usually  given  to  conductors,"  the  New  York  perform- 
ances would  not  have  been  inferior  in  any  respect  to  those  at 
Bayreuth.  Yet,  notwithstanding  that  shortcoming,  these  per- 
formances set  up  a  standard,  not  only  for  Europe,  but  for  all  the 
world.  Mr.  Otto  Floersheim,  who  was  one  of  the  very  first  to 
champion  the  cause  of  Wagner  in  America  (beginning  as  early 
as  1 875),  and  who,  during  the  last  ten  years,  as  representative  in 
Germany  of  the  Musical  Courier,  ha.s  had  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties for  hearing  all  the  great  conductors  frequently,  writes  to  me 
as  follows : 

"  Seidl  was  to  me  a  revelation,  for  he  was  the  first  one  to 
demonstrate  that  a  Beethoven,  or  any  other  symphony,  could 
be  interpreted  in  a  modern  spirit.     He  was  to  me  the  impersona- 

40  . 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


tion  of  the  principle  of  progress  in  music,  progress  in  reproduc- 
tion as  well  as  production.  His  interpretation  of  the  Nibe- 
lungen,  Meistersinger  and  Tristan  remain  to  me  the  models 
and  the  standards  of  comparison  by  which  I  gauge  all  other  repro- 
ductions of  the  same  works  I  hear  in  Berlin,  or  in  any  other  city, 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  they  are  still  unequalled  and  surely 
have  not  been  surpassed,  although  I  witnessed  performances 
under  Richter,  Weingartner,  Muck,  Mottl,  Schuch  and  many 
others.  Also  Parsifal,  Wagner's  swan  song,  I  have  not  heard 
performed  at  Bayreuth  more  nobly,  elevatingly  and  suggestively 
than  under  Anton  Seidl's  baton  last  summer." 

SOME        PERSONAL        TRAITS 

Before  proceeding  to  the  last  year  of  Anton  Seidl's  life,  let 
us  linger  for  a  while  on  his  characteristics  as  a  man,  t»  enable 
the  reader  to  realize  that  by  his  death  the  world  lost  n«t  •nly  a 
great  musician,  but  a  noble  man  in  the  highest  sense  •f  the 
word — a  man  to  whom  art  was  sacred,  whose  pride  never  degen- 
erated into  vanity,  and  who  performed  a  number  of  self-sacrific- 
ing actions  which  the  world  knew  nothing  of  He  was  every  inch 
an  artist,  never  satisfied  with  mere  financial  success,  if  he  felt 
that  his  ideals  had  not  been  approximated.  Th»ugh  the 
most  generous  of  men — he  has  been  known  •n  various  •ccasions 
to  return  his  check  to  managers  who  had  suffered  Usses — he 
would  not  even  conduct  a  charity  concert  unless  it  could  be  done 
in  a  way  that  would  not  discredit  the  work  or  deceive  the  public. 
Another  of  his  traits — remarkable  among  musicians — was  his 
modesty.  He  knew  perfectly  well  what  he  could  do,  but  he 
never  acted  in  a  wav  to  show  that  he  was  conscious  of  it.  Dur- 
ing the  years  of  his  eclipse  he  never  complained,  except  to  his 
friends.      He  was,  indeed,  too  modest ;  he  lacked  the  quality  of 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


"  push,"  SO  necessary  in  this  country  ;  and  but  for  the  zeal  of  his 
admirers  he  might  have  been  kept  in  the  background  till  the  day 
of  his  death.  Others  intrigued  against  him,  but  he  never 
stooped  to  intrigue  against  a  rival.  Quite  as  remarkable  as  his 
artistic  honesty  and  his  modesty  was  his  enthusiasm.  It"  his 
friends  were  zealous  in  his  behalf,  it  was  because  he  had  inspired 
them  with  the  contagion  of  his  enthusiasm  for  art.  He  took 
an  entirely  impersonal  view  of  such  matters,  and  was  conse- 
quently often  misunderstood  by  persons  who  can  comprehend 
actions  and  sacrifices  only  when  made  on  personal  grounds.  Of 
his  devotion  to  his  work  Mrs.  Seidl  has  some  interesting  things 
to  tell  us : 

"  It  is  impossible  to  imagine  a  man  more  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  music  than  Anton  Seidl  was  when  he  had  in  view  the  produc- 
tion of  some  important  work  ;  he  thought  of  absolutely  noth- 
ing else.  I  could  not  coax  him  away  from  his  work  long 
enough  to  take  a  cup  of  tea.  On  an  empty  stomach  he  would 
attend  his  rehearsals,  and  would  come  home  (I  am  now  speaking 
principally  of  the  German  operas)  so  thoroughly  exhausted  that 
he  was  unable  to  partake  of  any  food,  and  it  would  be  five 
o'clock  before  he  would  touch  anything,  having  thus  gone  tor 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  without  food.  Only  at  rare  inter- 
vals could  I  prevail  upon  him  to  eat  a  sandwich.  So  thoroughly 
impressed  was  he  with  the  importance  of  the  work  before  him. 
And  how  hard  he  worked  !  Before  his  illness  he  did  not  know 
what  it  was  to  be  tired,  and  when  he  was  tired  he  knew  no  rest. 
There  were  days  when  he  passed  fully  nine  hours  standing  in 
front  of  the  director's  desk.  And  what  exhausting  journeys  he 
undertook  in  this  country  !  Once  while  on  a  concert  trip  he 
had  to  cross  the  Hudson  at  Poughkeepsie  on  a  sleigh  and  the 
ice  was  so  thin  that  he  was  in  momentary  danger  of  death  ;  fortu- 

4^ 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


nately  I  knew  nothing  about  it,  otherwise  I  should  have  gone 
crazy.  How  despondent  he  was  at  times  when  returning  home 
from  a  rehearsal  !  '  I  dread  to-morrow's  performance,'  he  would 
say  ;  '  I  need  more  rehearsals  absolutely  :  if  I  could  have  but 
one  more  all  might  be  well.'  Then  he  would  get  so  excited  that 
he  could  not  sleep  a  wink  all  night. 

"  On  the  day  set  for  a  performance  he  would  remain  perfectly 
quiet,  hardly  speaking  a  word.  No  one  not  acquainted  with  him 
would  have  thought  he  was  nervous,  yet  how  excited  he  was,  to 
the  very  tips  of  his  fingers,  we  knew  very  well  !  The  slightest 
touch  startled  him.  I  knew  this  and  avoided  everything  that 
might  disturb  him.  How  different  he  was  when  sitting  at  his 
desk  !  Then  all  anxiety  disappeared.  Was  it  not  his  task  to 
animate  his  orchestra  to  do  their  very  best  ?  Then  he  was  like 
a  general ;  not  the  slightest  happening  on  the  stage  escaped  his 
notice,  and  he  understood,  better  than  any  other  musical  direc- 
tor, how  to  turn  to  account  the  various  incidents  of  the  stage. 
Once  at  a  ballet  rehearsal  in  the  third  act  of  the  Meistersinger, 
the  ballet-master  knew  absolutely  nothing  as  to  the  kind  of  dan- 
cing that  would  be  proper  for  the  occasion  ;  the  couples  simply 
jumped  aimlessly  about  the  stage,  when  suddenly  my  husband 
seized  one  of  the  girls  around  the  waist  and  began  dancing,  and 
it  proved  to  be  the  correct  way,  although  he  never  in  his  life  had 
danced  before.  Director  Stanton,  who  sat  by  my  right  on  the 
stage,  was  astounded,  and  remarked  to  me  :  '  That  man  knows 
everything  ! ' 

"  If  anyone  complimented  him  after  the  first  or  second  act 
of  an  opera,  he  would  be  displeased  and  would  say,  '  There  are 
still  two  acts  before  us.  God  knows  what  may  happen  before  we 
get  through  ! '  If  everything  went  well  to  the  end  he  was  de- 
lighted, and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see  with  what  evident  content- 

43 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ment  he  would  light  a  cigar  and  smoke  it.  Smoking  was  his 
great  passion,  and  he  never  felt  really  comfortable  unless  he  was 
holding  a  cigar  in  his  mouth.  He  would  then  sit  up  with  me 
at  home  till  two  o'clock  a.  m.,  or  even  later,  describing  the 
whole  opera,  and  his  excitement  was  so  great  that  sleep  would 
not  have  come  to  him,  anyway,  at  an  earlier  hour. 

"  How  happy  he  felt  when  the  critics  and  the  public  treated 
him  with  consideration,  and  how  modest  he  remained  with  all  his 
splendid  successes  !  This  was  shown  especially  when  he  was 
honored  with  a  gift  of  flowers ;  my  heart  fairly  beat  for  fear  the 
givers  might  be  offended  at  his  apparent  unconcern  on  receiving 
the  flowers.  How  often  I  begged  him  to  show  at  least  a  pleasant 
countenance  !  He  promised  to  do  so,  but  the  effort  proved  too 
great  for  him,  as  it  was  verv  painful  for  him  to  become  the  focus 
of  the  public  gaze.  His  modesty  did  not  admit  of  his  display- 
ing any  pleasure,  although  at  heart  he  felt  very  happy." 

HOME        LIFE 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seidl,  who  had  no 
children,  lived  at  38  East  62nd  Street,  New  York,  and  for  the 
few  weeks  that  the  conductor  could  spare  from  his  concert  trips 
and  Brighton  Beach  engagement,  he  had  a  cottage  at  Fleisch- 
mann's  in  the  Catskills.  His  music  room  in  New  York  had  a 
grand  piano  on  which  usually  lay,  or  stood,  some  score  he  hap- 
pened to  be  studying.  The  walls  were  adorned  with  rare  por- 
traits of  Wagner,  as  well  as  of  Bach,  Beethoven  and  Bismarck. 
Bouquets  and  wreaths  were  scattered  about,  as  is  usual  in  the  rooms 
of  prominent  stage  artists.  One  could  not  be  in  the  house 
long  without  seeing  or  hearing  either  Wotan  or  Mime,  two  of 
the  eight  dogs  that  were  allowed  the  freedom  of  the  house. 
Anton   Seidl   was  as  great    a  lover  of  dogs  as  Wagner ;   there 

4+ 


ANTON       SEIDL   A        MEMORIAL 


was  never  a  time  when  he  did  not  have  at  least  one  pet.  At 
Leipsic,  in  1870,  he  had  a  very  inteUigent  white  poodle  of  un- 
usual size.  His  name  was  Caro  and  he  used  to  carry  notes  be- 
tween Mr.  Schueler  and  his  master.  The  note  was  fastened 
to  his  collar,  and  then  Mr.  Seidl  gave  a  peculiar  whistle,  where- 
upon the  dog,  barking  violently,  ran  to  Mr.  Schueler's  quarters 
half  a  mile  away. 

"  The  outside  door  of  the  flat  in  which  I  lived,"  writes 
Mr.  Schueler,  "  had  an  old-fashioned  door  bell,  a  wire  with  an 
iron  ring  attached  about  four  feet  from  the  floor.  This  bell  Caro 
would  ring,  and  after  being  let  in,  would  run  to  the  door  of  my 
room  scratching  and  barking  until  I  opened  the  door.  It  was 
too  funny  to  see  him  hold  his  head  sideways  until  I  took  the 
note  from  his  collar.  After  writing  and  securing  the  answer 
under  the  collar,  the  dog  would  run  home  to  his  master.  Caro 
would  never  allow  anybody  else  but  his  master  to  play  on  the 
piano  in  Seidl's  room.  If  anyone  persisted  in  playing,  Caro 
barked  till  he  stopped.  The  tricks  Caro  performed  were  with- 
out number :  playing  on  the  piano  himself,  singing  soprano  or 
bass,  carrying  shoes,  gloves  or  any  article  in  the  room,  walking  or 
dancing  on  his  hind  legs,  smoking  and  playing  sentinel,  holding 
a  cane  between  the  front  paws,  were  some  of  his  many  accom- 
plishments." 

EIGHT        PET        DOGS 

Mrs.  Seidl's  manuscript  contains  the  following  details  re- 
garding the  dogs  they  had  in  New  York,  and  whom  they  always 
took  to  the  Catskills  in  summer  : 

"  Whenever  our  dear  Tony  came  home  from  his  engage- 
ment at  Brighton  Beach  or  some  exhausting  concert  trip  to  rest 
awhile  in   our  beautiful  home  in  the  Catskill  Mountains,  every- 

4S 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


thing  was  bedecked  with  flowers  and  leaves,  and  the  columns  of 
our  cottage  ornamented  with  garlands  and  ribbons,  so  as  to  ren- 
der our  home  worthy  of  its  owner.  All  his  dogs,  seven  dachs- 
hunds and  one  St.  Bernard,  stood  on  the  piazza  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  train  that  was  to  bring  their  master  home.  As 
soon  as  he  stepped  off  the  car,  the  intelligent  animals  would  rush 
off  to  greet  their  master  in  their  own  boisterous  way,  raising  a 
cloud  of  dust  in  which  both  master  and  dogs  disappeared,  until 
finally,  their  first  burst  of  glee  having  subsided,  they  would  rush 
up  the  hill  and  settle  down  on  the  piazza,  where  a  bountiful  feast  of 
crackers  awaited  them  as  a  reward  for  their  good  behavior.  Often 
my  dear  husband  would  walk  up  the  mountainside  during  the 
greatest  heat  of  the  summer  rather  than  take  a  conveyance,  just 
to  afford  his  favorites  an  opportunity  to  show  their  affection  for 
their  master  ;  then  there  was  such  a  noise  and  glee  that  I  often 
wondered  how  my  husband's  musically-trained  ears  could  bear 
the  ordeal.  Once  he  took  a  trip  in  the  middle  of  May  to 
Fleischmann's,  accompanied  by  his  favorite  dog  Wotan,  and  as  it 
was  still  quite  cold,  he  took  off  his  overcoat  and  spread  it  on  the 
floor  in  the  baggage  car  to  keep  the  dog  warm,  and  he  himself  re- 
mained in  the  baggage  car  to  keep  him  from  feeling  lonesome 
or  being  subjected  to  ill-treatment  by  the  trainmen. 

IN        THE        CATSKILLS  WORK        AND        PLAY 

"  In  the  early  morning  at  seven  o'clock  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  my  garden,  my  dear  Tony  being  still  fast  asleep  and 
resting  peacefully  from  his  very  exhausting  labor.  Of  course 
everything  was  kept  quiet  so  that  his  slumber  might  not  be  dis- 
turbed. Suddenly  the  loud  barking  of  the  dogs  called  my  at- 
tention from  my  work  and  looking  up  I  saw  my  dear  Tony 
looking  out  of  the  window,  happy  and   as   full   of  mischief  as  a 

46 


ANTON       SEIDL   A        MEMORIAL 


school-boy,  and  giving  me  a  wistful  glance  which  meant  that  he 
wanted  me  to  get  his  breakfast  ready.  Dignified  as  he  was  in 
his  ordinary  intercourse  with  the  world,  he  gladly  submitted  to 
being  spoiled  by  his  wife  when  at  home.  I  had  to  prepare 
everything  with  my  own  hands  as  if  he  were  a  child.  His 
breakfast  consisted  usually  of  a  cup  of  coffee,  bread  and 
butter  and  fruit ;  he  shared  it  with  his  dogs,  and  then  went 
to  the  depot  to  get  his  letters  and  newspapers,  and  to  chat  a 
few  moments  with  friends  he  met.  Then  he  went  to  Fleisch- 
mann's  Mountain  to  play  a  few  games  of  billiards  and  then  came 
home  for  lunch. 

"  The  afternoons  were  generally  devoted  to  work,  but  if  he 
had  a  concert  in  view  he  would  sit  down  from  early  morning  at  his 
work-table,  from  which  I  could  hardly  coax  him  to  take  a  mouthful 
to  eat.  What  pleasure  it  afforded  him  to  work  at  his  own  home  ! 
His  studio  was  so  quiet  !  From  his  writing-desk  he  could  see  the 
beautiful  trees,  hear  the  song  of  the  birds,  for  whose  benefit  he  had 
ordered  the  construction  of  little  houses  to  be  used  as  nests.  How 
he  enjoyed  the  delightfully  fresh  air  and  the  delicious  quiet !  He 
was  a  completely  changed  man  up  in  the  mountains,  and  after  a 
fortnight's  rest  he  was  ready  for  work  again.  What  a  fast  worker 
he  was  !  Whatever  came  into  his  mind  he  wrote  down  immedi- 
ately without  any  mistakes  and  in  beautiful  handwriting.  I  never 
saw  him  writing  the  same  thing  twice.  I  never  could  understand 
how  it  was  possible  for  him  to  retain  in  his  memory  note  for  note 
of  his  new  scorings.  What  he  could  but  seldom  be  induced  to 
do  in  the  city  he  did  with  pleasure  in  the  country.  He  would 
sit  down  and  play  wonderfully  well,  sometimes  his  own  spontane- 
ous inspirations  which,  in  spite  of  my  frequent  requests,  he  would 
refuse  to  put  on  paper.  Whatever  composition  emanated  from 
his  pen  was  absolutely  his  own  and  bore  the  stamp  of  his  charac- 

47 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ter  and  individuality;  there  was  no  borrowing  from  his  own  be- 
loved masters,  and  he  never  took  notes.  I  promised  him  to  study 
stenography,  so  that  I  might  preserve  at  least  some  of  his  com- 
positions, for  he  had  seriously  intended  after  the  London  season 
to  compose  an  opera,  having  received  from  a  very  talented  poet 
(Francis  Neilson)  a  libretto  which  quite  inspired  my  dear  hus- 
band. As  he  never  played  his  own  compositions  in  the  pres- 
ence of  anvone  else  but  myself,  many  a  reader  may  be  inclined  to 
doubt  the  truth  of  my  assertion  when  I,  his  wife,  say  that  it  is  a 
pity  he  was  so  unwilling  to  let  others  hear  them,  for  eminent  as 
he  was  as  an  interpreter,  I  am  certain  that  he  might  have  been 
equally  eminent  as  a  composer.  Endowed  as  he  was  with  the 
fire  of  genius,  profound  feeling,  and  a  high  capacity  for  dramatic 
expression,  which  enabled  him  to  inspire  not  only  his  numerous 
artists  but  also  the  general  public  when  he  was  interpreting  the 
masterpieces  of  Wagner,  Beethoven,  Liszt  and  others,  I  am 
thoroughly  convinced  that  as  a  composer  he  could  have  created 
works  of  a  high  order. 

"My  dear  husband  loved  nature,  took  pleasure  in  forests, 
trees  and  flowers,  although  he  knew  nothing  about  taking  care  of 
them  ;  he  did  not  even  know  the  names  of  the  trees  and  plants. 
One  day  he  brought  home  a  blue-bell  which  he  had  torn  out  by 
the  root  near  the  sidewalk ;  another  time  he  brought  a  tiny 
maple  tree,  which  he  had  torn  up  by  the  root,  and  declared  his 
intention  of  planting  with  his  own  hands.  'Well,'  I  told  him, 
'  if  this  little  tree  with  its  torn  roots  grows,  then  the  age  of 
wonders  has  not  yet  gone  bv.'  And  it  did  grow,  and  is  the 
only  tree  Anton  Seidl  ever  planted.  In  various  parts  of  our 
garden  he  put  tables  and  iron  benches,  which  he  proceeded  to 
paint  so  well  that  no  professional  painter  could  have  done  it 
any   better.      He  also  painted   my   flower  boxes  and  the  wood- 

48 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


house,  and  one  would  have  thought  he  had  never  done  anything 
else  in  his  life  but  paint.  One  day  he  went  into  the  woods  to 
repair  a  foot-path  which  had  gone  to  ruin.  He  toiled  like  a 
common  laborer  who  is  working  for  wages,  by  the  sweat  of  his 
brow,  and  when  I  told  him  that  this  unaccustomed  hard  work 
would  result  in  a  stiff  back  he  only  smiled  ;  but  three  days  later 
he  was  laid  up  and  could  hardly  move. 

MIME       BURIED       ALIVE 

"  One  day  one  of  our  dogs,  who  had  been  lying  on  the 
green  sward  behind  the  house  after  dinner,  suddenly  disappeared. 
My  dear  husband.  Bertha,  our  faithful  housekeeper,  and  others 
searched  for  him — it  was  our  favorite  Mime — but  in  vain.  We 
understood  perfectly  well  that  the  dog,  being  passionately  fond 
of  hunting,  was  probably  in  the  hole  of  some  woodchuck  and 
could  not  find  his  way  out  again,  which  meant  that  he  would 
die  from  hunger  and  thirst ;  or  he  might  have  been  killed  by  a 
woodchuck.  It  was  my  husband's  christening  day,  which  we 
always  celebrated  with  a  great  feast ;  this  time  he  would  not  allow 
us  to  celebrate,  and  he  actually  shed  tears,  so  much  did  he  take 
the  loss  of  his  favorite  to  heart.  At  last,  after  an  absence  of 
seventy-two  hours,  our  Mime  was  found  buried  in  the  hole  of  a 
woodchuck,  and  my  dear  Tony  triumphantly  carried  him  home 
in  his  arms. 

"  Mime  was,  as  I  have  said,  very  much  addicted  to  the  chase, 
and  availed  himself  of  every  opportunity  for  running  away  ;  and 
he  was  so  sly  that  no  matter  how  closely  we  might  watch  him, 
he  always  managed  to  escape.  Of  course  we  had  to  let  him  out 
once  in  a  while,  and  then  he  would  romp  with  the  other  dogs  in 
the  fresh-cut  grass  of  the  lawn.  Then  he  would  lie  down  to 
rest.     After  a  while  he  would  get  up  and  lie  down  a  little  nearer 

49 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


to  the  gate,  and  then,  when  he  thought  we  did  not  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  him,  off  he  was  Hke  a  flash,  and  knew  quite  well  that  as 
soon  as  he  reached  the  high  grass  he  would  be  invisible  to 
us.  Then  he  disappeared  in  the  woods.  In  the  parlor  he  had 
two  low  stools  with  cushions  for  a  bed,  and  woe  to  the  intruder 
who  presumed  to  take  possession  of  it ;  he  would  push  him  off 
immediately.  He  was  also  very  musical  ;  if  anyone  played  or 
sang  for  my  husband.  Mime  was  always  present  and  remained 
perfectly  quiet,  unless  he  heard  discordant  notes,  especially 
false  violin  notes  !  Then  he  was  beside  himself  and  moaned 
so  pitifully  that  he  had  to  be  taken  from  the  room,  to  the 
great  enjoyment  of  my  dear  Tony.  Mime  was  a  very  bright  ani- 
mal ;  he  understood  every  word  we  addressed  to  him,  and  knew 
every  trick  that  high-grade  dogs  are  taught,  such  as  walking 
through  the  room  on  his  hind  legs,  begging,  speaking  and  kissing 
the  hand,  but  the  funniest  of  his  tricks  was  knocking  off  the  ashes 
from  my  husband's  cigar  with  his  crooked  paw.  He  also  had 
his  sympathies  and  antipathies  for  the  human  race.  My  dear 
husband  had  an  occasional  visit  from  the  messenger  of  the 
orchestra ;  Mime  was  wrapped  up  in  warm  covers,  and  we 
thought  he  could  not  hear  the  ringing  of  the  doorbell,  but  the 
moment  this  young  man  rang  the  bell.  Mime  would  grow  furi- 
ous, whereas  if  others  rang,  he  would  not  pay  the  slightest  atten- 
tion. 

CHRISTMAS        PRESENTS 

"  Christmas  was  always  an  enjoyable  festival  with  us,  whether 
at  home  or  on  a  journey.  We  always  had  a  beautiful  Christmas 
tree  and  had  about  twenty-six  guests,  on  whom  I  bestowed  the 
handsomest  presents.  As  we  had  no  children  of  our  own,  we 
delighted  in  inviting  poor  children,  whose  happy  faces  afforded 

5° 


ANTON       SEIDL   A       MEMORIAL 


US  the  greatest  pleasure.  My  dear  husband  was  ever  anxious  to 
prepare  pleasant  surprises,  and  nothing  was  too  good  for  me  or 
others.  I  was  always  deeply  touched  on  finding  invariably 
among  the  many  costly  presents  he  made  me,  two  hats,  for  the 
choosing  of  them  was,  as  I  well  knew,  no  trifling  affair  for  him. 
He  always  went  to  the  same  milliner,  cast  his  eyes  over  the  hats 
and  pointed  his  fingers  at  the  ones  he  wanted,  without  saying  a 
word.  Before  he  decided  on  his  choice,  the  girl  behind  the  coun- 
ter tried  on  the  hats,  so  he  could  see  what  impression  they  made, 
and  I  must  say  that  usually  these  hats  were  more  becoming  to 
me  than  those  I  bought  for  myself  Naturally  his  appearance  at 
the  milliner's  always  attracted  attention,  and  this  was  an  ordeal 
to  him. 

"  After  the  guests  had  received  their  presents  the  dogs  got 
theirs,  either  a  couple  of  chops  or  sausages  for  each  one  of 
them  having  been  tied  to  the  Christmas  tree.  They  had  learned 
from  year  to  year  what  would  occur.  Mime  used  to  walk  around 
the  tree  wagging  his  tail  and  raising  his  nose,  wistfully,  until  he 
had  found  what  he  was  looking  for ;  then  he  would  bark  and 
perform  all  sorts  of  tricks  until  the  desired  delicacy  was  handed 
to  him  ;  nor  was  Wotan  backward  in  claiming  his  share.  Those 
two  animals  had  so  much  intelligence,  and  were  so  wise,  that 
we  could  keep  up  a  conversation  with  them,  they  evidently 
understanding  every  word  we  said.  My  husband  was  very 
fond  of  taking  his  breakfast  in  bed  and  of  reading  his  news- 
papers— he  took  more  interest  in  his  newspapers  than  in  his 
breakfast — and  so  it  happened,  usually,  that  his  coffee  or  tea 
grew  cold  and  Wotan  had  to  wait  tor  his  share.  When  Wotan 
thought  that  he  had  waited  quite  long  enough,  and  all  his  tricks 
and  begging  had  gone  for  naught,  he  would  put  one  of  his 
forepaws   on   the   bed,  and  with  the  other  he  would  strike  the 

51 


ANTON       SEIDL  — -A       MEMORIAL 


newspaper  out  of  his  master's  hand,  repeating  this  operation  until 
my  husband  laid  by  the  paper  and  gave  him  his  share  of  the 
breakfast.  At  the  dinner-table  Mime  would  sit  on  one  side  of 
my  husband  and  Wotan  on  the  other.  We  had  a  great  deal 
of  fun  with  Mime.  Both  dogs  slept  in  the  same  room  with  us, 
Mime  in  a  basket  lined  with  blankets,  and  Wotan  on  blankets 
spread  on  the  carpeted  floor.  Both  dogs  waited  for  their  master 
to  come  home.  Mime  knew  exactly  when  he  was  due.  Many 
carriages  would  pass  through  our  street  without  attracting  their 
attention,  but  before  my  husband's  carriage  came  to  a  full  stop 
before  the  door,  Mime  was  already  there.  When  my  husband 
came  home  immediately  after  a  concert,  his  reception  by  Mime 
was  always  a  stormy  one  ;  also  when  he  came  home  at  one  a.  m., 
but  if  he  came  later  the  reception  by  Mime  would  be  notably 
cooler.  If  it  got  to  be  as  late  as  two  o'clock  a.  m..  Mime 
treated  his  master  with  silent  contempt  as  we  would  laughingly 
remark  ;  and  even  the  gift  of  crackers,  which  Mime  was  very 
fond  of,  was  then  declined.  In  fact,  he  would  not  look  at  the 
late-comer  at  all. 

wotan      kills     mime 

"  If  Tik,  Tak,  Tek,  Froh,  Freia  and  Erda,  our  other  six 
dachshunds,  made  too  much  noise  in  the  basement,  all  my  husband 
had  to  do  was  to  talk  through  the  speaking-tube  and  everything 
was  silent  in  an  instant.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Mime  and  Wo- 
tan disliked  one  another  very  much.  Jealousy  was  the  cause, 
and  we  had  to  be  very  particular  not  to  caress  one  without  car- 
essing the  other.  Mime  was  more  jealous  than  Wotan.  When- 
ever Wotan  passed  by  Mime  growled  and  tried  to  bite  his  feet. 
This  disposition  was,  no  doubt,  the  cause  of  Mime's  tragic  end. 
He  was  bitten  by  Wotan  and  so  badly  hurt  that  he  died  within 

5* 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


a  few  hours.  I  was  in  my  bedroom  with  my  dear  Tony,  Wotan 
in  the  front  room,  when  we  heard  Wotan  bark  in  a  pecuHar  man- 
ner. I  went  into  the  room  and  found  Wotan  standing  over 
Mime  ;  I  tore  Wotan  away,  but  it  was  already  too  late,  for  he  had 
bitten  Mime's  throat  through.  We  were  of  opinion  that  Mime 
must  have  snapped  at  Wotan,  and  the  bigger  dog  retaliated  by 
killing  him.  My  husband  was  so  much  shocked  by  this  foul 
deed  that  he  wanted  to  have  Wotan  killed  forthwith,  but  I  dis- 
suaded him  from  so  doing,  for  I  knew  how  dear  was  Wotan  to 
his  heart,  and  that  as  soon  as  he  recovered  from  Mime's  loss  he 
would  thank  me  for  not  having  consented  to  Wotan's  death. 
Wotan  was  his  pet ;  Mime  was  mine.  As  a  punishment  Wotan 
was  banished  from  our  room  to  the  top  floor,  where  for  several 
days  he  refused  all  food,  and  stood  there  with  drooping  ears  (I 
forgot  mentioning  that  my  husband  had  given  him  a  severe  beat- 
ing), and  behaved  in  such  a  queer  manner  that  we  were  afraid  he 
might  lose  his  reason.  So  our  friends  advised  us  to  resume  our 
cordial  relations  with  him,  and  once  in  a  while  to  take  him  into 
our  bedroom,  otherwise  the  animal  would  surely  go  mad.  This 
we  did,  but  never  failed  to  reproach  him  his  infamous  deed,  and 
he  evidently  felt  very  repentant.  Often  we  caught  him  smelling 
the  spot  on  the  floor  where  he  had  killed  Mime,  and  following 
the  scent  to  the  wash  table  whither  we  had  carried  the  poor  bleed- 
ing pet.  Poor  Mime  was  forthwith  taken  to  Fleischmann's  by 
our  dear,  faithful,  and  devoted  friend.  Bertha  Seifert,  and  there 
buried  in  our  family  plot. 

"  Is  it  not  curious  that  my  dear  husband — when  in  the  spring 
of  '97  I  planted  several  trees  in  our  garden — should  have  in- 
sisted on  my  planting  a  weeping  willow  near  our  well  ?  I  felt 
quite  down-hearted  at  the  idea,  and  tried  to  dissuade  him,  as  these 
willows  are  generally  supposed  to   be  fit  only  for  church  yards 

53 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


and  not  for  flower  gardens.  But  he  insisted,  and  I  had  to  do 
his  bidding.  He  said  these  gentle  drooping  twigs  had  a  pecuHar 
charm  for  him,  and  he  did  not  attach  any  superstitious  meaning 
to  them.  Thus  I  have  continually  before  my  eyes  the  weeping 
willows  which,  when  first  planted,  caused  me  to  have  such  a  ter- 
rible foreboding. 

seidl's     generosity 

"  I  feel  impelled  to  say  a  few  words  about  my  husband's 
kindness  of  heart.  For  suffering  humanity  his  hand  and  heart 
were  always  open  ;  he  never  could  send  the  poor  from  his  door 
unassisted.  What  he  thus  gave  away  would,  in  the  aggregate, 
amount  to  a  very  large  sum,  which,  for  his  income,  was  far  be- 
yond his  means.  And  so  it  was  with  his  clothes,  which  1  had 
frequently  to  give  away  to  strangers  when  he  could  have  quite 
well  worn  them  himself  a  while  longer  ;  but  he  could  not  refuse  the 
clothes  to  a  poor  man  who  said  that,  but  for  the  want  of  decent 
clothes,  he  might  get  a  good  position.  I  was  sometimes  compelled, 
when  all  the  half-used  clothes  had  been  disposed  of,  to  give  away 
even  the  new  ones.  He  proved  his  kindness  of  heart,  when  the 
times  were  bad,  by  taking  the  orchestra  for  several  weeks  on  jour- 
neys without  any  remuneration  for  himself,  even  paying  the 
hotel  bills  out  of  his  own  pocket,  his  sole  purpose  being  to  give 
his  orchestra  a  chance  to  earn  a  little  money.  And  how  often 
he  gave  concerts  for  objects  of  public  charity  is  well  known. 

MASQUERADES        AND        A        SURPRISE 

"  That,  in  spite  of  his  serious  turn  of  mind,  he  could  enjoy 
a  good  joke  the  following  story  will  prove  :  Some  time  ago  the 
Fleischmanns  gave  a  costume  ball  in  the  Catskills  ;  the  types  of 
every  land  were  to  be  seen  ;   a  booth   had  been  erected  where 

54 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


different  things  were  presented.  My  dear  Tony  was  there,  too, 
dressed  as  a  little  maiden  in  short  clothes  and  apron,  with  his 
arms  and  neck  bare,  his  hair  in  curls,  a  straw  hat  ornamented 
with  rose-colored  ribbons  and  May  flowers  on  his  head,  a  golden 
medal  around  his  neck,  and  low-cut  shoes.  He  sang  the  birth- 
day song  of  Hans  Sachs.  He  was  absolutely  unrecognizable  and 
everybody  was  inquiring,  'Who  is  that?  Who  can  it  be?' 
And  it  was  quite  a  long  while  before,  to  everyone's  delight,  his 
identity  was  revealed.  He  looked  so  funny  !  His  sunburned 
face,  neck  and  hands  formed  such  a  striking  contrast  with  his 
white  arms  and  shoulders,  and  produced  a  curious  effect. 

"  Once,  on  his  return  from  a  season  at  Brighton  Beach,  the 
families  Fleischmann,  Blayer,  Edelheim  and  others  surprised  him 
by  the  production  of  a  Haydn  child  symphony  in  which  all  the 
children  of  the  above-named  families  as  well  as  some  grown 
people  took  part.  Of  course  I  was  initiated  into  the  secret,  but 
was  supposed  to  know  nothing  about  it.  I  was  told  that  it  was 
to  be  a  surprise  party  and  I  need  not  bother  myself  about  any- 
thing. Naturally,  I  was  anxious  to  do  something  to  promote 
the  general  happiness,  and  so  I  ordered  a  fine  supply  of  fruit  from 
New  York,  also  two  musicians,  so  that  the  children  might  have  a 
dance  later  on.  I  also  left  an  order  for  various  pieces  of  pastry 
to  be  prepared  at  home.  My  dear  husband,  who  ordinarily  took 
very  little  interest  in  cooking,  was  in  the  habit,  when  coming 
home  from  a  very  exhausting  season  at  Brighton  Beach,  of  visit- 
ing every  individual  room  in  our  very  pretty  house,  his  heart  full 
of  happiness  ;  even  the  kitchen  did  not  escape  an  inspection,  and 
so  we  did  not  know  how  to  hide  the  things  from  him.  9n  the 
festival  day  we  were  invited  to  dinner  at  a  friend's  house,  but  I 
went  there  with  my  husband  as  early  as  4  p.  m.,  so  that  during 
our  absence  the  festive  preparations  might  be  made  at  •ur  h«me. 

ss 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Just  as  we  were  going  down-stairs,  a  train  from  New  York  was 
coming  in  ;  he  insisted  on  awaiting  its  arrival,  and  in  my  despair 
I  ran  up  to  a  friend  of  his  and  said  :  '  Please  help  me  get  my 
husband  away  from  the  station,  for  the  musicians  I  ordered  are  on 
this  train,  and  if  he  sees  them,  "  the  cat  is  out  of  the  bag."  '  For- 
tunately we  succeeded  in  getting  him  away  from  the  station  just 
as  the  train  was  coming  in.  Another  friend  undertook  to  take 
the  musicians  where  they  were  wanted.  All  this  he  failed  to  see, 
and  his  friends  who  '  happened '  to  drop  in  all  followed  us  to 
Stiassny's,  where  we  had  been  invited  to  dine.  All  he  asked  me 
was  what  business  our  laboring  man  *  Ed  '  had  at  the  depot 
with  Mime.  I  made  him  believe  that  I  had  sent  Ed  for  some 
things  I  expected.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  was  expecting  the 
things  I  had  ordered  for  the  evening.  At  Stiassny's  the  task  was 
to  get  him  into  the  house,  under  all  sorts  of  pretexts,  but  he  in- 
sisted on  staying  on  the  piazza.  Had  we  left  him  there  he  would 
have  noticed  the  arrival  of  every  delivery  wagon  that  came  up 
our  hill.  So  we  were  kept  continually  busy  until  we  sat  down 
to  dinner.  It  was  understood  that,  as  soon  as  everything  was 
ready,  Fleischmann  should  send  a  messenger  and  advise  us  that 
all  invited  guests  were  in  the  house,  pretending  that  there  were 
visitors  at  our  house  waiting  to  see  us. 

"  At  last  the  servant  came  and  requested  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Seidl  to  come  home,  as  there  were  visitors  to  see  them.  I  made 
believe  inviting  the  family  to  come  over  to  our  house  and  to 
bring  the  children  along.  It  was  a  hard  task  for  me  to  conceal 
my  happiness  at  the  idea  that  we  had  succeeded  so  well  in  deceiv- 
ing my  husband,  and  I  left  him  under  pretence  of  advising  Mrs. 
Stiassny  to  dress  her  children  more  warmly,  and  went  to  the  piazza 
with  her.  There  I  observed,  to  my  horror  ,  that  two  delivery 
wagons  with  burning  lanterns  were  coming  up  our  hill.   Now  what 

s6 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


was  I  to  do  ?  To  tarry  any  longer  was  impossible,  for  my  dear  hus- 
band would  have  suspected  something,  but  he  could  not  leave  the 
house  while  the  wagons  were  at  our  door.  Nothing  remained  for 
me  but  to  pretend  that  I  felt  suddenly  ill  and  to  declare  to  my  hus- 
band that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  go  home  before  I  felt  better; 
but  I  left  the  room  as  quick  as  possible,  as  it  would  have  been  im- 
possible for  me  to  play  this  part  for  any  length  of  time  before 
my  husband.  At  last  the  wagons  were  gone  ;  I  felt  well  again, 
and  we  all  went  up  our  hill  together.  Nothing  stirred  in  the 
house;  the  outside  was  quite  dark,  as  usual  when  we  were  out; 
my  dear  Tony  observed  that  our  visitors  were  probably  on  the 
other  side  of  the  house  in  the  dining-room.  So  he  unsuspect- 
ingly opened  the  parlor  door,  but  immediately,  pale  with  emo- 
tion, he  stood  still,  for  the  moment  he  opened  the  door  the  sym- 
phony began.  The  surprise  was  absolute,  for  he  had  not  had 
the  slightest  inkling  of  the  matter.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  the 
picture  of  so  many  beautiful  young  faces,  all  intent  upon  perform- 
ing the  task  that  had  been  allotted  to  them,  to  the  best  of  their 
ability,  was  indeed  inspiring  !  My  Tony  was  deeply  touched 
and  delighted  at  this  reception  his  friends,  big  and  little,  had  pre- 
pared for  him.  The  little  ones  were  especially  fond  of  him,  as 
this  serious  man,  from  whom  nothing  but  performances  of  grand 
compositions  were  expected,  had  often  played  waltzes  and  other 
pieces  for  them  so  they  could  dance.  The  merry  company 
stayed  with  us  till  late  at  night, and  my  husband  was  the  happiest 
of  all. 

PRESENTS        FOR        HIS       WIFE 

"  He  was  particularly  fond  of  bright,  lively  colors,  also  new 
stuffs.  If,  for  instance,  I  bought  him  new  cravats,  he  would 
wear  them  every  day  until  they  were  old,  then  he  would  resume 

S7 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


wearing  his  old  ones  again.  He  was  quite  fond  of  laying  wagers 
with  me,  for  as  a  rule  he  won  ;  but  if  it  should  so  happen 
that  I  won,  he  would  twist  things  around  in  such  a  way  that  I 
finally  lost  all  my  reckoning,  and  it  was  delightful  to  see  how 
much  pleasure  this  afforded  him  ;  and  as  a  consequence  I  did  my 
best  to  let  him  win.  Inexpressibly  good  he  was.  I  did  not 
venture  to  say  I  liked  this  or  that,  for  he  would  at  once  insist  on 
buying  it  for  me.  When  Christmas  was  at  hand  I  had  to  make 
him  promise  me  weeks  before  that  he  would  not  make  me  any 
costly  presents,  for  I  had  everything,  and  required  nothing  ;  other- 
wise he  would  have  spent  all  his  money  on  jewelry  and  other 
expensive  things  just  to  please  me.  Many  a  time  did  I  tell  him  : 
'Just  give  me  a  little  bouquet  and  it  will  have  for  me  the  same 
value  and  will  afford  me  as  much  pleasure  as  the  most  costly 
present  would,  for  in  giving  it  to  me  you  have  thought  of  me.' 
When  he  returned  from  Europe,  very  happy  over  his  triumphs 
at  Bayreuth  and  London,  he  brought  me  from  the  latter  city  a 
brooch  which  had  been  made  for  me  under  his  special  instruc- 
tions. It  represents  the  Nibelung's  ring  and  Siegfried's  horn 
with  small  rubies,  which  were  his  favorite  stones.  Whenever  he 
returned  from  a  journey  he  brought  presents  for  the  servants." 

RELATIONS       WITH        MUSICIANS 

In  some  notes  contributed  for  this  book  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kaltenborn,  the  statement  is  made  that  while  Mr.  Seidl  himself 
was  extremely  generous,  and  often  gave  his  services  free  at  charity 
concerts,  he  insisted  that  the  orchestral  musicians  "  must  be  paid 
for  their  work."  Mr.  Kaltenborn  was  one  of  the  leading  violin- 
ists in  the  Seidl  Orchestra,  and  his  first  experience  as  a  soloist 
was  somewhat  trying.  Mr.  Seidl  had  never  heard  him  play,  and 
there  had  been  no  opportunity  for  a  rehearsal — it  was  at  Coney 

58 


Anton  Seidl 
1894 


H  O  T  O  li  K  .\   I     I'        '^    I 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Island — so  that  the  viohnist  naturally  felt  very  nervous.  After- 
wards, on  the  hotel  piazza,  Mr.  Seidl  complimented  him  on  his 
achievement,  adding,  with  a  smile,  "  But  why  were  you  so  nerv- 
ous ?  "  Mrs.  Kaltenborn  answered  for  her  husband  :  "  Because  he 
was  afraid  of  you  !"  "  Oh,"  retorted  the  conductor,  "  they  all  say 
that,  but  I  do  nothing ;  I  only  look. ";  and  as  he  said  that,  the 
characteristic  expression  that  made  his  face  so  fascinating  played 
around  his  smiling  mouth.  He  always  seemed  to  enjoy  being 
told  that  a  soloist  had  been  afraid  of  him — of  that  quiet  look 
from  over  the  baton. 

But  the  soloists  loved  and  admired  him,  too,  for  they  could 
be  sure,  in  case  he  had  had  a  chance  for  rehearsal,  that  they 
would  be  well  accompanied.  The  eminent  violinist.  Miss 
Maud  Powell,  echoed  the  opinion  of  many  players  and  singers 
when  she  wrote  to  him  after  a  Philharmonic  concert :  "  I  want 
to  thank  you  for  those  beautiful  accompaniments,  so  firm  yet 
elastic  and  sympathetic,  full  of  shading  and  perfectly  subord- 
inated in  the  right  places.  My  impulse  last  night  was  to  seize 
your  hand  in  gratitude  in  the  presence  of  the  audience  ;  then  I 
suddenly  thought,  '  Oh,  dear;  Mr.  Seidl  will  think  it  American 
presumption  or — Frechheit.'  "  He  was  also  a  most  admirable 
accompanist  on  the  piano,  so  remarkably  sympathetic  that  it  is  a 
great  pity  he  did  not  exhibit  his  talent  in  that  line  more  frequently. 
His  long  experience  as  Wagner's  secretary  had  taught  him  to  play 
on  the  piano  orchestral  scores  in  a  strikingly  orchestral  way,  and 
at  Colonel  IngersoU's  house  he  would  sometimes  entertain  friends 
by  the  hour  playing  from  the  Parsifal  and  other  scores  in  a 
way  that  sounded  strangely  different  from  the  usual  versions  of 
those  works  for  the  piano.  It  is  a  pity  that  he  did  not  make 
new  vocal  scores  of  the  Nibelung  dramas.     They  are  needed. 

He  sometimes  addressed  a  short  speech  to  his  men  explaining 

59 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  character  of  a  new  composition.  I  remember,  especially,  be- 
ing told  of  his  doing  that  when  he  conducted,  for  the  first  time  in 
America,  Wagner's  juvenile  symphony,  the  score  of  which  he  had 
helped  to  complete.  He  insisted  that  players  should  study  their 
parts  at  home,  and  not  leave  everything  to  the  ensemble  rehearsal. 
If  a  mistake  was  made  by  the  violins,  for  instance,  he  knew  which 
one  of  twenty  or  more  players  was  the  guilty  man. 

"  Mr.  Seidl  had  great  reverence  for  old  age,"  writes  Mr. 
Kaltenborn,  "  and  always  censured  those  who  were  disrespectful 
to  an  old  man.  Instances  occurred  at  rehearsals  that  brought 
out  this  trait  of  his  character  strongly.  At  Coney  Island,  as 
elsewhere,  his  love  of  nature  would  show  itself.  Often  he  sat  at 
Brighton  watching  the  sea  for  hours.  He  was  a  genial  com- 
panion to  sympathetic  friends,  whom  he  sometimes  amused  by 
indulging  in  all  kinds  of  mimicry,  in  which,  like  his  dear  friends, 
Jean  and  Edouard  de  Reske,  he  was  an  adept.  Like  his 
master,  Wagner — and  Beethoven — he  was  much  given  to  pun- 
ning, and  laughed  at  his  own  efforts  as  cordially  as  anyone.  He 
was  fond  of  bowling  and  excelled  in  the  game." 

It  is  well  known  that  Anton  Seidl  did  not  care  for  general 
society,  though  he  liked  to  be  with  friends  and  was  happy  in 
their  company,  even  if  nothing  was  said. 

FAVORITE        HAUNTS 

"  He  had  his  favorite  haunts,"  writes  Mr.  Kaltenborn, 
"  one — Fleischmann's  on  Broadway — where  he  could  often  be 
found  in  the  afternoon,  taking  his  coffee  and  smoking,  and  where 
his  friends  dropped  in  to  see  him.  The  other  was  the  Stewart 
House,  on  Broadway  and  41st  Street,  where  my  father-in-law, 
Mr.  Borman,  lived.  He  would  go  there  many  an  evening, 
and  always,  when  he  went  there  after  a  concert  or  opera,  call  up 

60 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


through  the  tube  for  Mr.  Borman  to  come  down,  and  they 
would  sit  there  until  early  hours  of  the  morning,  talking  over 
musical  affairs  or  politics,  of  which  Seldl  was  very  fond,  and  on 
which  he  kept  well  informed.  Occasionally  a  friend  would  join 
them,  usually  Albert  Stettheimer  or  Albert  Steinberg.  Mr. 
Borman  tells  of  how  at  times  they  would  sit,  or  take  a  stroll  for 
an  hour  or  more,  and  Seidl  wouldn't  say  a  word,  yet  dislike  to 
have  him  leave." 

With  the  artists  who  sang  under  him  Anton  Seidl  was  al- 
ways on  the  very  best  of  terms.  Albert  Niemann,  Heinrich  Vogl, 
Max  Alvary,  Lilli  Lehmann,  Marianne  Brandt,  Lillian  Nor- 
dica,  Emma  Eames,  Jean  and  Edouard  de  Reszke,  Plancon,  Las- 
salle,  Campanari,  Fischer,  and  many  others  adored  him,  and  the 
feeling  was  cordially  reciprocated.  Always  serious  while  devoted 
to  the  task  of  interpreting  a  master  work,  he  loved  to  joke  at 
other  times.  In  Signer  Campanari's  contribution  to  this  volume 
the  reader  will  find  an  amusing  specimen  of  the  jocular  letters 
he  sometimes  sent  to  his  friends.  On  several  occasions  dinners 
were  given  to  Mr.  Seidl,  at  which  loving-cups  were  presented 
to  him.  When  the  menus  were  passed  round  for  signatures  he 
often  added  a  line  of  music  and  a  jocular  verse.  Nor  did  he  in 
the  least  disapprove  being  made  the  subject  of  comic  poems  like 
the  following,  read  at  a  dinner  given  by  Dr.  S.  G.  Perry  to 
members  of  the  Lotos  Club  to  which  Mr.  Seidl  belonged  : 

THE  MASTER. 

Here  is  to  our  noble  Master, 

Who  keeps  his  arm  in  constant  motion, 

And  makes  our  hearts  go  slow  or  faster 
According  as  he  takes  a  notion. 

♦  6i 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


He  never  stops  or  asks  to  know 
If  we  can  bear  such  deep  emotion, 

But  swings  his  baton  fast  or  slow, 
With  loyal  spirit  of  devotion. 

And  we  must  sit  and  hear  the  strains 
With  heavy  hearts  or  high  elation, 

While  he,  whate'er  our  joys  or  pains, 
Goes  on  with  his  interpretation. 

The  doctor  says  it  is  not  wise 

To  list  to  sounds  that  are  excessive  ; 

A  man  with  weak  heart  sometimes  dies 
From  music  that  is  too  expressive. 

February  5,  1897. 

HIS        MAJESTY,        RICHARD       WAGNER 

Of  Mr.  Seidl's  stern  side  and  his  unflinching  devotion  to 
his  art,  an  interesting  instance  was  related  some  years  ago  by  the 
Roman  correspondent  of  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung,  when  the  Neu- 
mann Company  gave  a  performance  of  Die  JValkure.  The 
King  had  promised  to  attend,  and  it  is  customary  in  Italian  thea- 
tres, when  his  Majesty  enters,  to  interrupt  the  performance  by 
playing  the  marcia  reale.  Anton  Seidl  was  Neumann's  conduc- 
tor, and  he  was  given  to  understand  what  he  must  do  at  the 
moment  of  the  King's  appearance  in  his  box.  But  Mr.  Seidl 
absolutely  refused  to  insult  the  majesty  of  King  Wagner,  his 
sovereign,  by  any  such  inartistic  proceeding,  and  Herr  Neu- 
mann, after  trying  in  vain  to  make  him  obedient  to  Italian  cus- 
tom, was  obliged  to  call  upon  the  assistant  conductor  to  preside 
over  the  opera.     The   performance  began,  and  the   King  put  in 

62 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


an  appearance  just  as  Siegmund  and  Sieglinde  were  in  the  midst  of 
their  love  duo,  whereupon  everyone  stopped,  the  "  royal  march  " 
was  played,  and  then  the  duo  was  resumed. 

THEODORE       THOMAS 

One  of  the  pieasantest  incidents  to  record  in  connection  with 
Anton  Seidl's  last  year  is  that  a  cordial  friendship  had  sprung  up 
between  him  and  Theodore  Thomas.  When  Mr.  Seidl  used 
the  Chicago  orchestra  at  the  Auditorium  performances  of  Wag- 
ner operas,  Mr.  Thomas  called  on  him  and  complimented  him 
on  the  masterly  way  in  which  he  had  secured  control  of  a  new 
organization.  When  Mr.  Thomas  visited  New  York  subsequen- 
tly, Mr.  Seidl  returned  the  visit,  and  fresh  compliments  were 
interchanged.  It  is  needless  to  add  that  there  was  none  of  the 
"  mutual  admiration  society  "  business  in  this.  Both  these  men 
have  been  noted  for  their  stubborn  refusal  to  bestow  praise  ex- 
cept where  they  believed  praise  was  due.  To  his  friends  Mr. 
Seidl  spoke  warmly  of  Mr.  Thomas  as  a  man  and  a  musician. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Seidl  was  interested  in  politics,  and 
it  was  therefore  natural  that  he  should  want  to  share  the  privileges 
of  citizenship  in  his  adopted  country.  Accordingly,  in  1891  he 
took  out  his  naturalization  papers,  and  ever  after  that  he  objected 
to  being  called  Herr  Seidl.  "It  seems  like  being  boycotted," 
he  said  to  me  one  day.  "  Why  don't  they  say  Mr.  Seidl  ?  "  He 
insisted  on  having  the  change  made  on  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  programme. 

Let  us  now  resume  our  narrative. 

Mr.  Maurice  Grau,  who  had  been  reinstated  with  his 
partner,  Mr.  Henry  Abbey,  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House 
in  1 891,  for  the  express  purpose  of  driving  out  Wagner,  came 
to  the  conclusion — after  some  unpleasant  experiences  with  the 

63 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


^y  Star  system — that  Wagner,  properly  sung,  was  after  all  an 
operatic  manager's  best  friend,  and  that  Mr.  Seidl  was  Wagner's 
chosen  interpreter.  Moreover,  one  after  another  of  the  great 
singers,  who  had  been  brought  over  to  assist  Mr.  Grau  in 
his  warfare  upon  Wagner,  went  over  to  the  Wagnerian  side, 
converted  by  the  eloquence  of  Mr.  Seidl's  musical  plead- 
ing. Once  more  Anton  Seidl  became  the  idol  of  the  opera- 
goers,  who  was  never  allowed  to  take  his  seat  at  his  desk 
before   he  had  acknowledged  three  rounds  of  cordial  applause. 

TRIUMPH        IN        LONDON 

When  Mr.  Grau  was  engaged  as  manager  of  the  Covent 
Garden  Opera  in  London,  for  the  season  of  1897,  he  took  Mr. 
Seidl  with  him  and  gave  the  London  opera-goers  a  pleasant  sur 
prise.  I  have  before  me  several  hundred  clippings  from  English 
papers  bearing  witness  to  his  triumph.  The  critics  were  not  slow 
to  discover  his  merits,  as  the  following  brief  citations  from  leading 
newspapers  show : 

"  Under  his  masterly  control  the  subdued  playing  of  the 
orchestra  furnished  quite  a  revelation." 

"  He  secured  orchestral  playing  of  rare  delicacy  and  beauty, 
and  altogether  proved  his  high  reputation  to  be  well-merited." 

"  Once  again  was  a  potent  influence  of  this  great  conductor 
made  manifest  in  the  remarkably  subdued  and  refined  playing  of 
the  orchestra,  which  brought  home  to  the  ear  all  the  beauties 
of  Wagner's  instrumentation,  and  yet  never  overwhelmed  the 
voices  ot  the  singers." 

"  A  conductor  for  whom  Wagner  has  no  mysteries  or 
pitfalls." 

"  Mr.  Seidl  manipulated  the  forces  under  his  control  with  a 
mastery  that  was  truly  marvelous." 

"  Some  of  the  audience  were  astonished  at  that  which  they 

6+ 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


imagined  were  certain  new  readings.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever, they  were  merely  a  correction  of  mistakes  in  tempi  and 
nuance,  which  have  crept  into  the  performance  since  the  days 
that  Costa,  declining  to  correct  a  copyist's  error,  declared  the 
discordance  was  the  composer's  intention.  At  any  rate,  Seidl, 
who  was  a  pupil  of  Richter,  and  likewise  studied  under  Wag- 
ner^ in  whose  house  he  lived  some  years — may  be  accepted  as 
an  authority  on  the  Wagnerian  traditions." 

"  An  orchestral  rendering  which  fell  little  short  of  abso- 
lute perfection." 

"  Has  infused  a  dramatic  and  poetic  spirit  into  the  orchestral 
playing  as  welcome  as  it  is  novel." 

"  Herr  Seidl  has  raised  materially  the  standard  of  perform- 
ance at  Covent   Garden." 

"  He  had  the  happy  faculty — supreme  in  a  conductor — of 
impressing  the  vocal  and  instrumental  forces  under  his  control 
with  his  personal  ideas  as  to  the  method  in  which  the  music 
should  be  rendered." 

"  Anton  Seidl  has  proved  himself  the  best  orchestral  con- 
ductor we  have  had  up  to  now." 

"  Wagner  should  have  been  present  himself  to  hear  justice 
done,  almost  for  the  first  time,  to  some  •f  his  exquisite  phrases. 
Where  opera-goers  have  before  found  n«ise  and  little  else,  they 
were  on  Saturday  able  to  appreciate  musicianly  melody  and 
masterly  scoring." 

"  The  Covent  Garden  band  has  never  played  so  smoothly, 
so  softly,  or  with  such  spirit.  And  yet  Seidl  is  a  quiet  man,  with 
an  immovable  face  and  very  little  action.  The  wav  he  waits  for 
the  singers  must  make  them  adore  him.  He  dresses  like  an 
ordinary  citizen,  but  his  hair  is  not  short.  He  wears  pince-nez, 
and  looks  rather  like  Liszt  in  his  youth." 

"  He  is  quiet  in  manner,  without  coldness  at  heart,  and  he 
has  that  power  which  so  few  conductors  possess,  of  making  the 

6s 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


player  feel  exactly  what  he  wants.      In  moments  of  danger  he 
displays  the  utmost  coolness." 

"The  beautiful  music  of  the  opera  under  his  direction 
takes  on  a  new  and  overwhelming  charm." 

These  extracts  suffice  to  prove  that  the  London  corre- 
spondent of  the  New  York  Sun  did  not  exaggerate  when  he 
cabled  on  June  26  regarding  Anton  Seidl's  debut : 

"  His  triumph  in  London  in  grand  opera  has  been  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  foreign  conductor,  nearly  all  of  the  critics 
admitting  that  his  interpretation  of  Wagner  has  been  a  fresh 
revelation  of  the  great  composer's  work,  and  the  best  ever  given 
to  the  English  public." 

Not  that  this  verdict  was  universally  accepted.  As  every 
organ  grinder  has  his  monkey,  every  circus  its  clown,  so  every 
body  of  critics  has  its  buffoon.  The  Musical  Standard  declared 
soberly  that  "one  can  never  believe  Mr.  Seidl  is  in  any  sense  a 
great  Wagnerian  conductor  !  " 

Mr.  Seidl's  triumph  in  London  was  the  more  remarkable 
inasmuch  as  he  had  to  assume  charge  of  an  orchestra  entirely 
unused  to  his  methods.  He  was  hampered,  too,  by  certain 
old-established  evils,  of  which  the  following  extract  from  a  Lon- 
don paper  gives  an  illustration : 

"  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  a  conductor  of  Herr 
Anton  Seidl's  capacity,  when  he  looked  round  upon  his  orchestra 
at  the  commencement  of  the  third  act  of  Lohengrin  on 
Friday  evening — on  the  orchestra  that  had  to  accompany  some 
of  the  first  singers  in  Europe — and  discovered  that  nearly  twenty 
of  his  best  executants  had  departed  by  royal  command  for  the 
State  concert  at  Buckingham  Palace,  leaving  in  their  stead  a 
group  of  no  doubt  admirable  substitutes,  but  still  comparative 
strangers." 

66 


ANTON   SEIDL  A   MEMORIAL 


HOW   SEIDL   CONDUCTED   WAGNER 

If  Mr.  Seidl  could  have  had  his  own  orchestra,  he  would 
have  astonished  the  Londoners  still  more.  He  was,  indeed, 
noted  for  the  skill  which  he  showed  in  vitalizing  an  ill-assorted 
and  unprepared  band  of  players ;  and  he  could  work  wonders 
with  few  rehearsals.  M.  Jean  de  Reszke  once  remarked  to  me 
that  he  had  never  taken  part  in  a  more  smooth  and  finished 
performance  of  Die  Meister singer  than  that  which  Mr.  Seidl 
had  been  obliged,  much  against  his  wish,  to  conduct  after  only 
one  rehearsal.  But  there  is  a  Hmit  to  such  feats.  When  he  had 
the  best  of  material  and  plenty  of  preparation,  he  never  failed 
to  reveal  the  heart,  pulse  and  the  very  soul  of  the  great  com- 
poser whose  apostle  he  was.  Then,  not  only  did  he  never  drown 
the  singers,  but  in  the  softest  passages  the  orchestral  tenderness 
was  insinuating  and  caressing  beyond  comparison.  The  way  he 
made  his  orchestra  sing,  sigh,  whisper,  exult,  plead,  threaten, 
storm,  rage,  was  a  marvel  to  every  one  who  heard  it.  The  dra- 
matic surges  of  passionate  sound  in  Tristan  were  irresistible. 
He  knew  the  scores  by  heart,  and  kept  his  eye  on  the  singers 
every  moment,  so  that  every  gesture  had  its  timely  orchestral 
comment.  He  knew,  too,  that  the  same  melody  must  be  taken 
slower  or  faster,  according  to  the  situation.  To  mention  but  one 
detail  :  The  superb  eight  bars  during  which  the  King  gives  his 
blessing  to  Lohengrin  and  Elsa,  were  by  him,  and  by  him  only, 
so  far  as  I  know,  given  in  the  slackened,  broadened,  majestic 
tempo,  which  adds  so  much  to  the  solemnity  of  the  scene,  and 
which  Wagner  specially  prescribed  in  a  letter  to  Liszt  nearly 
half  a  century  ago.  In  the  later  Wagner  dramas  he  made  the 
tempo  vary  endlessly  and  have  as  many  little  spurts  and  eddies 
and  dashing  falls,  and  trout  pools  full  of  speckled  beauties,  as  a 
mountain   brook.      This  phase  of  Mr.  Seidl's  genius  as  a  con- 

67 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


ductor  was  admirably  described  by  W.  F.  Apthorp  after  a  per- 
formance in  Boston  of  'Tristan  and  Isolde. 

"  We  must  first  speak  of  Seidl,for  he  was  the  heart  and  soul 
of  it.  It  was  he  who  made  the  fine  performance  of  the  others  pos- 
sible. His  management  of  the  orchestra  was  simply  beyond 
praise  ;  not  once  during  the  whole  evening  did  the  instruments 
unduly  over-crow  the  voices  on  the  stage.  Then  the  orchestral 
performance,  taken  by  itself,  was  a  marvel  of  beauty  ;  such  deli- 
cacy of  shading  is  exceedingly  rare.  It  was  not  merely  that  suc- 
cession of  crass  contrasts  between  fortissimo  and  pianissimo  which 
sometimes  parades  under  the  name  of  '  shading,'  but  a  hardly  in- 
terrupted series  of  the  more  subtile  and  delicate  nuances  in  dyna- 
mics and  tempo.  It  reminded  one  of  what  Mr.  Gericke  once  said 
of  Wagner's  conducting  Lohengrin  in  Vienna :  '  The  most 
striking  thing  about  it  was  the  surpassing  delicacy  of  all  the  eflfects; 
modifications  of  force  and  tempo  were  almost  incessant,  but  were 
for  the  most  part  modifications  by  a  hair's  breadth  only.'  " 

TRIUMPH        IN        BAYREUTH 

When  Mr.  Seidl  went  to  Europe  it  was  not  merely  to  con- 
duct at  Covent  Garden,  but  also  in  Bayreuth.  As  soon  as  Frau 
Cosima  Wagner  heard  that  he  was  coming  to  Europe  she  sent  him 
a  cable  dispatch  followed  by  letters  inviting  him  most  urgently  to 
interpret  the  performances  of  Parsifal  in  July  and  August.  As 
the  London  season  extends  far  into  the  summer  months,  and  as 
he  had  already  signed  his  contract  with  Mr.  Grau,  he  was  obliged 
to  make  the  condition  that  the  Bayreuth  rehearsals  must  not 
conflict  with  the  Wagner  performances  in  London.  A  schedule 
was  accordingly  prepared  which  enabled  him  to  conduct  both  in 
London  and  Bayreuth,  without  neglecting  rehearsals.  This  in- 
volved a  good  deal  of  extra  fatigue  in   travelling  from  one  place 

68 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


to  the  Other,  and  Anton  Seidl  was  already  far  from  being  in  good 
health.  It  required  all  of  his  iron  constitution,  strong  will,  and 
devotion  to  art,  to  surprise  and  enchant  both  Bayreuth  and 
London  in  the  same  month. 

And  he  did  surprise  and  delight  Bayreuth  as  much  as  he 
had  surprised  and  delighted  London.  Dr.  Heinrich  Porges,  an 
intimate  friend  of  Wagner,  and  one  of  the  assistants  at  all  the 
Bayreuth  rehearsals  from  the  earliest  days,  described  the  reception 
given  to  Mr.  Seidl  at  Bayreuth  in  the  iVIunich  Neueste  Nach- 
richten.  Wagner's  son,  Siegfried,  introduced  him  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  orchestra  in  these  words  :  "A  Knight  of  the  Grail 
has  returned  to  us — one  who  has,  alas,  been  away  from  Grail- 
land  altogether  too  long.  I  present  to  you  Kapellmeister  Anton 
Seidl,  one  of  those  best  qualified  to  interpret  a  work  with  the 
composition  of  which  he  was  closely  associated."  That  the  or- 
chestra applauded  after  these  words  was  a  matter  of  course,  but 
it  was  not  a  matter  of  course,  but  a  very  unusual  compliment,  that 
the  orchestra  applauded  him  after  discovering  how  he  performed 
his  task.  Porges  writes  :  "Anton  Seidl  is  a  conductor  of  the 
highest  rank.  That  was  made  evident  at  once  to  the  players 
whom  he  led  with  a  firm  hand  ;  they  applauded  him  already  at  the 
end  of  the  first  act,  and  after  the  second  act,  which  he  led  with 
overwhelming  passion,  they  broke  out  into  a  storm  of  applause." 

On  July  9  Mr.  Seidl  wrote  to   his  wife  a   long  letter  from 
London,  from  which  I  translate  a  few  pages  : 
"  My  Dearest  Gusterl  ! 

"  I  have  just  got  back  from  Bayreuth.  I  can  only  say  it 
was  glorious.  Siegfried,  who,  by  the  way,  is  a  charming  and  im- 
mensely talented  young  man,  introduced  me  to  the  orchestra 
very  cordially.  There  was  applause  ;  every  one  was  full  of  curios- 
ity and  we  went  at  it  immediately  with  all  our  might  and   main. 

69 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


After  the  first  act  the  players  as  well  as  Frau  Cosima  broke  out 
into  loud  and  prolonged  applause,  which  was  redoubled  after  the 
second  and  also  after  the  third  act.  I  had  to  make  few  stops, 
for  the  players  were  attentive  and  luck  favored  us  so  that  the 
result  was  grand.  Truly,  Wagner's  spirit  had  come  over  me  ; 
I  heard  everything  distinctly  from  the  beginning,  which  is  very 
difficult  in  this  lowered  orchestral  place.  My  wide  experience 
in  conducting  in  all  sorts  of  places  made  it  easy  for  me  to  sur- 
mount all  difficulties.  Everybody  declared  that  no  one  had  ever 
so  quickly  and  unobtrusively  adapted  himself  to  the  situation. 
Frau  Cosima  embraced  me  at  least  twenty  times  and  wept ;  she 
said  that  the  good  old  times  seemed  to  have  returned,  that  I  had 
brought  back  the  conception  of  the  1882  festival.  My  way  of 
conducting  as  well  as  my  face  reminded  her,  she  said,  of  her 
father  [Liszt].  In  a  word,  everybody  congratulated  me  most 
cordially.  The  orchestral  players  declared  they  had  never  been 
conducted  as  on  this  occasion  and  wondered  where  I  got  all  this. 
Many  offers  have  already  come  to  me.  I  was  invited  to  con- 
duct the  Kaim  concerts  in  Munich  ;  from  Bremen  came  another 
offer  relating  to  concerts,  and  in  March  and  April  I  was  asked 
to  conduct  Wagner  operas  in  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow  and  War- 
saw. A  mysterious  letter  came  from  Berlin  inquiring  whether 
I  was  willing  to  accept  the  position  of  the  foremost  conductor 
in  Germany,  the  writer  offering  to  come  to  Bayreuth  and  dis- 
cuss the  matter.  Richter  advises  me  to  go  to  Pesth,  where  they 
need  me,  he  said,  as  a  starving  man  needs  bread  ,  and  so  on.  So 
you  see — victory  in  all  directions.  .  .  .  As  for  London,  Mr. 
Higgins  has  already  intimated  that  he  counts  on  me  for  certain 
next  May,  June  and  July.  Now  I  must  close.  I  kiss  you  a 
million  times ;  you  poor  thing,  you  have  had  to  wait  long  for 
this   letter,  but   my  work  and   excitement   did   not   allow  me  to 

70 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


write   sooner.     At  home  everything  is  well,  I  hope.     Another 
kiss  from  your  faithful 

Toni. 

"  P.  S. — Last  weeic  I  sent  ;^ioo  to  Seligmann's.  Use  it  if 
needed.  Greetings  to  Rosi,  Veroni  and  friends.  Plenty  of 
crackers  for  Wotan  and  Mime." 

I  have  met  several  American  music-lovers  who  had  attended 
nearly  all  the  Bayreuth  festivals,  and  they  declared  that  no  one 
had  ever  penetrated  so  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  Parsifal  as 
Anton  Seidl.  I  may  add  that  Wagner  intended  to  have  him 
conduct  this,  his  last  work,  in  1882  ;  but  as  the  King  of  Bavaria 
had  lent  him  his  royal  orchestra,  whose  conductor,  Hermann 
Levi,  was  also  a  capable  interpreter  of  his  scores.  It  would  have 
been  ungracious  to  carry  out  his  original  plan.  But  ifthusdeprived 
of  the  honor  of  conducting  the  first  production  of  Parsifal, 
Anton  Seidl  had  the  privilege  of  leading  its  one  hundredth 
performance  at  Bayreuth,  and  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  the  last 
opera  he  ever  conducted — a  touching  and  beautiful  ending  of  his 
stage  career. 

A       PERMANENT       ORCHESTRA 

This  was,  however,  by  no  means  the  end  of  his  musical 
career.  It  so  happened  that  Mr.  Grau  gave  no  opera  in  New 
York  the  following  season,  the  consequence  being  that  Mr.  Seidl 
had  to  devote  all  his  energies  to  concerts.  There  was  a  series 
of  twelve  at  the  Astoria  Hotel,  at  which  the  price  of  a  ticket  was 
I5.  There  were  other  series  in  Chickering  Hall  and  in  Brook- 
lyn, more  than  sixty  in  all,  including  the  Philharmonic  concerts, 
augmented  from  twelve  to  sixteen  because  of  their  ever-growing 
success  under  his  direction.  And  yet  he  was  not  contented. 
He  felt  more  and  more  strongly  that  a  man  of  his  eminence, 
called  upon  to  give  so  many  concerts,  ought  to  have  his  own  or- 

7' 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


chestra,  of  which  he  could  control  the  membership,  the  pro- 
grams, the  rehearsals  and  everything.  The  situation  was  des- 
cribed at  length  in  an  editorial  of  mine,  which  appeared  in  the 
Evening  Post,  and  which  may  here  be  quoted  : 

"  A  number  of  local  music-lovers  have  started  a  movement 
for  collecting  a  large  fund  to  be  used  in  founding  a  permanent 
orchestra  for  Mr.  Anton  Seidl.  It  is  probable  that  on  the 
success  of  this  movement  depends  the  momentous  question 
whether  Mr.  Seidl  will  remain  in  America  or  go  to  Europe. 
Mr.  Seidl  made  his  reputation  as  a  conductor. before  he  came  to 
America,  thirteen  years  ago,  and  it  is  well  known  that  in  the  last 
years  of  his  life  Wagner  favored  him  above  all  other  conductors 
as  an  interpreter  of  his  works.  He  had  been  in  America  only  a 
few  years  when  he  received  an  offer  of  the  conductorship  of  the 
Royal  Opera  in  Berlin,  which,  fortunately  for  New  York,  he 
refused.  Ever  since  that  time  similar  offers  have  come  to  him 
nearly  every  year.  The  sensation  which  he  created  in  London 
last  spring  as  conductor  of  the  Covent  Garden  opera,  and  after- 
wards by  his  interpretation  of  Parsifal  at  Bayreuth,  made  the 
Germans  realize  more  vividly  than  ever  before  that  New  York 
harbors  one  of  the  greatest  of  conductors,  and  offers  to  him  mul- 
tiplied rapidly.  Munich  wanted  him  as  conductor  of  the 
Royal  Opera,  and  the  de  Reszkes  endeavored  to  secure  him 
for  the  opera  season  at  St.  Petersburg.  Budapest  has  twice 
tried  to  win  him,  and  among  the  offers  of  last  summer  was  one 
of  a  tour  embracing  thirty  concerts,  for  which  he  was  to  get 
as  personal  honorarium  ^7,500. 

"  But  Mr.  Seidl  had  pledged  himself  to  conduct  our  Phil- 
harmonic concerts,  and  for  this  and  other  reasons  he  refused 
all  those  offers  and  returned  to  New  York.  European  man- 
agers have,  however,  apparently  made  up  their  mind  to  get  our 
conductor,  and  lately  several  new  and  tempting  offers  have  been 
made  to  him.     One  was  from   Hamburg,  where  they  seem  de- 


72 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


termined  to  secure  him,  the  latest  message  being,  '  Make  your 
own  terms.'  A  few  days  ago  another  and  still  more  tempting 
despatch  came  from  the  Royal  Opera  in  Berlin,  this  being  the 
third  time  that  that  most  honorable  position  in  all  Germany  has 
been  offered  him.  It  is  a  field  coveted  by  all  foreign  musicians 
because  of  its  great  artistic  privileges  and  opportunities,  and  be- 
cause, after  a  service  of  some  years,  the  conductor  is  entitled  to  a 
pension.  Mr.  Seidl  is  undecided  whether  to  accept  or  not.  He 
has  become  an  American  citizen,  is  fond  of  this  country,  and 
he  realizes  that  with  the  Philharmonic  Society — as  fine  an  or- 
chestra as  can  be  found  anywhere — together  with  the  German 
branch  of  the  grand  opera  here  and  in  London,  he  has  a  con- 
siderable field  of  activity  ;  yet  he  is  far  from  satisfied,  owing  to 
the  conditions  under  which  most  concerts  are  given  in  this  city. 

"  It  must  be  remembered  that  in  addition  to  the  Philhar- 
monic concerts,  for  which  three  rehearsals  are  allowed,  Mr.  Seidl 
has  about  fifty  miscellaneous  concerts.  For  many,  if  not  most, 
of  these  he  can  secure  only  one  rehearsal  where  he  wants  three 
or  four.  It  is  true  that  even  thus  he  attains  results  more  stirring 
than  most  other  conductors  do  here  and  abroad  with  well-drilled 
orchestras  ;  but  he  secures  them  at  an  enormous  expenditure  of 
energy,  which  is  undermining  his  health  and  making  him  pessi- 
mistic. Not  long  ago,  at  a  certain  concert  for  which  he  could 
get  only  one  rehearsal,  not  one  of  the  brass  players  who  had 
rehearsed  with  him  turned  up.  They  had  secured  a  more  profit- 
able job  at  a  ball,  and  sent  inferior  substitutes,  with  whom — 
totally  unprepared  as  they  were — he  had  to  put  up,  though  the 
worry  lest  some  accident  occur,  for  which  the  conductor  would 
be  held  responsible,  nearly  made  him  ill.  Such  things  happen 
frequently,  and  unless  something  can  be  done  to  remedy  them, 
Mr.  Seidl,  who  is  of  a  highly  nervous  temperament,  will  either 
collapse  or  leave  us  for  Europe." 

Alarmed  by  the  urgency   of  the   situation,  the   friends  and 

73 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


admirers  of  Anton  Seidl  conceived  the  plan  of  raising  a  fund  for 
the  establishment  of  a  permanent  orchestra.  It  was  agreed  that 
no  conductor  had  ever  aroused  a  larger  and  more  enthusiastic 
following  than  Mr.  Seidl,  yet  he  was  the  only  prominent  leader 
in  this  country  who  had  never  been  provided  with  a  genuine  per- 
manent orchestra.  Henschel,  Gericke,  Nikisch  and  Paur  had 
the  Boston  Orchestra  to  play  on  as  their  private  instrument,  with 
which  no  one  else  could  meddle.  Mr.  Thomas  had  the  Chicago 
permanent  orchestra,  Van  der  Slacken  one  in  Cincinnati,  and 
Mr.  Walter  Damrosch  had  for  several  years  an  orchestra  in  New 
York  which  was  endowed  with  plenty  of  money  to  make  it 
really  permanent,  and  was  advertised  as  New  York's  only  per- 
manent orchestra.  The  admirers  of  Mr.  Seidl  were,  therefore, 
justified  in  claiming  that  it  was  now  his  turn  to  have  a  first- 
class  band  provided  for  him,  so  he  might  show  whether  he 
could  make  it  permanent  and  ultimately  self-supporting. 

It  so  happened  that  two  projects  for  a  permanent  orchestra 
were  started  about  the  same  time,  neither  part)'  knowing  of  the 
other.  Colonel  Robert  IngersoU's  family,  including  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Walston  H.  Brown  and  Mrs.  and  Miss  Farrell,  together 
with  Mrs.  William  Loomis  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Hunt  Welling 
first  approached  Mr.  Seidl  in  regard  to  the  matter.  When  the 
other  party  heard  of  this  plan  it  promptly  agreed  to  cooperate 
with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Seidl,  feeling  convinced  that  he  was  the 
best  man  for  the  place.  Accordingly  in  response  to  an  invita- 
tion sent  out  by  Mrs.  Richard  Watson  Gilder,  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam H.  Draper,  Mrs.  Richard  H.  Derby,  Mrs.  Charles  A. 
Post.  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Ditson,  Mrs.  H.  T.  Finck  and  Miss 
Lucia  Purdy,  more  than  a  hundred  music-lovers  assembled 
at  the  residence  of  Mr.  W.  H,  Drake  to  devise  plans  for 
raising    funds    for    a    permanent    orchestra,   presided    over    by 

74 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Mr.  Seidl.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  Rich- 
ard Watson  Gilder,  who  called  attention  to  one  great  advan- 
tage music  has  over  other  arts  :  "  To  build  up  great  works 
of  architecture  or  sculpture  requires  many  years  of  waiting,  but 
the  art  of  instrumental  musical  reproduction  can  be  had  in  per- 
fection at  once.  We  have  a  leader  of  genius,  and  plenty  of  first- 
class  players  ;  all  we  need,  therefore,  is  to  hold  these  together  by 
financial  support,  and  the  thing  is  accomplished.  To  see  any 
city  of  the  world  purveying  for  itself  finer  orchestral  music  than 
we  might  make  permanently  ours  is  something  not  to  be  endured. 
A  city  dedicated  primarily  to  trade  needs  especially  the  detachment 
of  spirit  that  comes  through  hearing  the  noblest  music,  nobly 
rendered." 

Dr.  W.  H.  Draper  gave  a  resume  of  previous  attempts  to 
establish  a  permanent  orchestra  in  New  York,  and  several  more 
addresses  were  made.  A  committee  on  organization  was  appoint- 
ed and  had  several  meetings  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Draper.  The 
following  list  of  officers  was  submitted  and  unanimously  ratified 
at  one  of  these  meetings  :  President,  Charles  T.  Barney;  Secre- 
tary, Gustav  E.  Kissell  ;  Treasurer,  William  E.  Strong ;  trus- 
tees, W.  Bayard  Cutting,  Richard  H.  Derby,  Charles  H.  Dit- 
son,  Robert  W.  De  Forest,  Charles  Lanier,  Charles  F.  McKim, 
Stephen  H.  Olin,  Henry  W.  Poor,  Whitelaw  Reid,  J.  Hamp- 
den Robb,  Albert  Stettheimer,  Gustav  H.  Schwab,  Mrs.  Robert 
Abbe,  Mrs.  Arthur  Von  Briesen,  Mrs.  Walston  H.  Brown, 
Mrs.  Prescott  Hall  Butler,  Mrs.  Henry  Clews,  Mrs.  William 
P.  Douglas,  Mrs.  William  H.  Draper,  Mrs.  Richard  Watson 
Gilder,  Miss  Louisa  Morgan,  Miss  Purdy,  Mrs.  Victor  Sor- 
chan,  Mrs.  James  Speyer. 

The  terms  of  the  subscription  to  the  guarantee  fund  were  as 
follows  : 

75 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


"In  consideration  of  the  organization  of  the  Orchestra  So- 
ciety of  New  York  and  of  its  undertaking  to  give  musical  per- 
formances, we,  the  undersigned,  each  for  himself  and  not  one  for 
another,  agree  with  one  another  and  with  the  said  society,  to  pay, 
each  year,  during  the  five  years  beginning  May  i,  1898,  to  the 
said  society  at  the  call  of  its  treasurer,  our  pro-rata  share  of  any 
deficiency  that  may  exist  between  the  annual  receipts  and  expen- 
ditures of  the  society,  in  accordance  with  the  amounts  set  op- 
posite our  respective  names.  All,  or  any  part  of  the  yearly 
amount  subscribed  by  us,  not  called  for  in  any  one  year,  may  be 
called  by  the  treasurer  in  any  succeeding  years  if  the  trustees 
shall  so  elect,  but  in  no  event  shall  the  total  liability  of  either  of 
us  be  in  excess  of  five  times  the  amount  hereinafter  set  opposite 
our  names.  No  subscription  hereto  is  to  be  binding  until  a  total 
of  at  least  $25,000  has  been  subscribed  for  each  of  the  above- 
mentioned  five  years." 

At  the  last  meeting  held,  and  before  subscription  blanks 
had  been  distributed,  it  was  announced  that  the  sum  of  $52,000 
had  already  been  subscribed  by  Charles  H.  Ditson,  W.  C. 
Schermerhorn,  James  Speyer,  Charles  T.  Barney,  Charles  H. 
Coster,  George  T.  Bliss,  Henry  W.  Poor,  Gustave  E.  Kissel, 
William  E.  Strong,  Charles  Lanier,  Mrs.  Gilbert  E.  Jones  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  T.  Villard.  It  had  also  been  announced 
that  Mr.  Grau  would  be  glad  to  engage  the  Seidl  Permanent 
Orchestra  for  his  opera  season,  thus  insuring  the  members  reg- 
ular employment  for  six  months  a  year,  and  making  an  addition 
equal  to  $80,000  to  the  fund.  He  also  offered  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House  free  for  all  rehearsals  and  concerts.  There  was 
no  doubt  whatever  that  the  additional  $75,000  wanted  could 
have  been  raised  in  a  few  weeks.  Mr.  Seidl  was  wonderfully 
elated  at  the  prospect  which  thus  suddenly  opened  before  him. 

76 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


He  gave  up  all  thought  of  accepting  the  offers  from  Berlin  and 
other  German  cities,  and  began  making  plans  for  the  season. 
The  concert-master  of  the  Permanent  Orchestra  was  to  be  none 
less  than  Mr.  Ysaye,  who  would  also  have  conducted  some  of 
the  concerts.  The  only  difficulty  was  in  regard  to  the  opera, 
which  would  take  up  so  much  of  the  orchestra's  time  that  it 
would  not  be  possible  to  give  more  than  ten  or  twelve  concerts. 
It  was,  however,  agreed  that  that  would  be  enough  to  begin  with, 
as  New  York  was  already  flooded  with  musical  entertainments. 

THE        WORLD        AT        HIS        FEET 

Thus,  after  a  few  years  of  undeserved  neglect,  Anton  Seidl 
had  suddenly  ascended  a  lofty  summit  from  which  he  could  survey 
a  grand  field  of  future  activity.  The  whole  world  lay  at  his 
feet — Berlin,  Budapest,  London,  New  York,  the  capitals  of 
Germany,  Hungary,  England,  the  metropolis  of  America,  were 
competing  for  his  services.  He  had  to  make  his  choice,  and  he 
decided  to  take  the  Grand  Opera  in  London  and  New  York, 
together  with  the  Philharmonic  and  the  Permanent  Orches- 
tras, work  enough,  in  reality,  for  two  men.  But  he  was 
enthusiastic,  and  had  his  body  been  as  strong  as  his  will,  he 
would  have  accomplished  his  Herculean  tasks.  He  had  been 
ailing,  however,  for  some  time ;  indeed,  he  had  never  quite  re- 
covered from  the  attack  of  pneumonia  he  had  in  1896,  which 
brought  him  so  near  death's  door  that  some  of  the  newspapers 
had  articles  headed  "  Seidl  Dying."  He  told  me  afterwards 
that  he  had  a  hard  struggle  with  death  ;  he  seemed  to  be  ready 
to  drop  down  a  precipice,  but  held  back  with  his  strong  will. 
"  If  I  had  yielded  the  least  bit  I  should  have  gone  over,"  he  said. 
The  last  two  years  of  his  life  had  aged  him  ten  in  looks.  He 
looked  tired  and  careworn,  and  was  no  longer  the  strikingly  hand- 

77 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


some  man  everyone  had  admired  for  his  splendid  head  no  less 
than  for  his  interpretative  genius. 

The  tragedy  of  his  death  has  been  related  by  Mrs.  Seidl, 
from  whose  manuscript  I  quote  once  more  : 

FATIGUING        DUTIES 

"  On  my  husband's  return  from  Europe,  in  September,  I 
was  alarmed  by  his  sickly  appearance,  which  he  declared  was  due 
to  a  severe  cold  he  had  caught,  and  to  the  fact  of  his  having 
partaken  of  no  food  for  twelve  days,  but  which  he  felt  sure  a 
week's  stay  in  the  Catskills  would  cure.  He  had,  evidently, 
while  in  Europe  overexerted  himself,  for  in  addition  to  the 
many  rehearsals  for  Tristan,  Lohengrin  and  Siegfried,  in  Lon- 
don, he  also  directed  the  rehearsals  for  Parsifal  at  Bayreuth. 
Thus  he  was  compelled  to  make  the  journey  from  London  to 
Bayreuth  and  return  three  times.  As  soon  as  he  finished  at 
Bayreuth,  he  was  at  once  compelled  to  return  to  London,  and 
there  conduct  several  Wagner  operas,  and  immediately  after  the 
opera  was  ended  he  had  to  leave  again  for  Bayreuth — a  trip 
which,  during  the  heat  of  midsummer,  is  not  a  trifling  matter  ; 
especially  for  a  man  like  Seidl,  who  put  his  whole  soul  into  his 
work  without  ever  considering  that  this  continual  strain  might, 
possibly,  ruin  his  health.  He  did  not  seem  to  realize,  at  that 
time,  what  it  was  to  be  fatigued,  so  thoroughly  was  he  imbued 
with  the  sacredness  of  his  mission  to  insure  the  production  of 
Parsifal  in  accordance  with  the  intentions  of  his  dearly  beloved 
master.  His  ability  to  accomplish  that  result,  and  his  desire  to 
stand  on  the  same  hallowed  spot  where  his  adored  master  had 
stood,  at  Bayreuth,  were  compensation  enough  for  all  the  trouble 
and  annoyance  he  was  subjected  to.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact, 
seemingly  providential,   that    the  last  performance   of   Parsifal 

78 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


was  the  hundredth  of  that  work  and  at  the  same  time  the  last 
opera  Anton  Seidl  ever  conducted.  It  was  his  swan  song  and 
certainly  the  most  fitting  end  conceivable  of  a  noble  career. 

"  During  the  last  summer  and  the  following  winter  he  re- 
ceived numerous  offers  of  engagement  from  the  highest  art  insti- 
tutes of  Europe.  His  insecure  position  in  this  country,  where 
engagements  are  made  from  year  to  year  and  no  engagements  are 
made  for  a  series  of  years,  as  is  the  case  in  Europe,  the  many  poor 
years  (professionally  speaking)  which  he  witnessed,  and,  last,  but 
not  least,  his  useless  complaints  when  he  was  called  upon  to  give 
concerts  with  but  one  preliminary  rehearsal,  discouraged  him  ex- 
ceedingly. 'Had  I  but  the  means,'  he  would  say,  'to  engage 
a  permanent  orchestra,  what  great  things  I  could  accomplish  if  I 
could  command  as  many  rehearsals  as  I  chose.'  How  often  he 
would  say,  '  What  shall  I  do?  If  I  tear  down  all  my  bridges  in 
Europe  I  am  done  for  as  far  as  that  country  is  concerned.  In 
Europe  I  can  have  as  many  rehearsals  as  I  wish;  my  income 
is  assured  ;  I  need  not  kill  myself  by  overwork  ;  after  a  certain 
number  of  years  I  may  retire  on  a  pension,  and  I  have  the  most 
honorable  position  any  man  could  wish.  If  I  remain  here  it 
might  possibly  be  my  luck  to  find  myself  suddenly  with  noth- 
ing to  do  and  in  my  old  age  a  pauper.'  However,  his  love  for 
his  new  fatherland  prevailed  and  caused  him  to  give  up  every- 
thing else,  although  thoroughly  convinced  that  his  prospects  for 
the  future  were  by  no  means  bright.  He  doubted  at  first  if  the 
money  for  an  orchestral  fund  could  be  raised.  '  But  whatever 
may  occur,'  he  said, '  I  am  determined  to  remain  in  this  country, 
for  I  love  America.' 

"  It  goes  without  saying  that  all  this  worry  excited  him  ter- 
ribly, for  how  many  jeering  and  heartless  criticisms  he  had  to  put 
up  with  on  the  part  of  his  enemies  !     When  in  addition  to  this 

79 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


he  could  not  during  the  whole  winter  get  rid  of  the  grippe,  and 
I  begged  him  so  often  not  to  work  so  hard,  and  to  try  first  to 
recover  his  health,  he  always  managed  to  comfort  me  and  appease 
my  anxiety.  A  short  time  before  his  sudden  death  he  was  as- 
sured by  faithful  friends  and  art  enthusiasts  that  he  should 
have  his  permanent  orchestra  !  So,  after  all,  the  dream  of  his 
life  was  to  become  a  reality  !  How  happy  and  proud  it  made 
him.  '  Now  at  last  I  shall  be  able  to  show  what  I  can  do  !  I 
am  sure  that  in  the  very  first  year  I  shall  surprise  everybody, 
and  after  three  years  I  shall  not  fear  comparison  with  the  best 
orchestra  in  the  world;  and  those  whose  trustful  confidence  en- 
abled me  to  realize  my  highest  ideals  shall  find  their  pleasure  in 
my  success,  and  will  thus  find  their  reward.' 

"On  Monday,  March  28,  he  had  invited  Ysaye,  Pugno, 
Gerardy,  Schueler  and  a  few  other  gentlemen  to  dinner  in  honor 
of  Pugno,  who  was  to  leave  for  Europe  the  following  Wednes- 
day. I  do  not  know  even  now  why  I  objected  so  much  to 
this  dinner;  my  principal  reason  was  that  mv  husband  would  be 
kept  unusually  busy  during  the  week  by  the  Philharmonic  re- 
hearsals for  the  Ninth  Symphony,  besides  other  rehearsals  ;  feel- 
ing that  this  would  be  too  much  for  him  in  his  enfeebled  con- 
dition, I  begged  him  to  give  his  dinner  later  on,  after  the 
production  of  the  Ninth  Symphony  ;  but  he  insisted  on  giving 
it  on  Monday,  because  Pugno  had  to  be  present  and  my  dear 
husband  had  to  attend  a  rehearsal  of  the  chorus  on  Tuesday. 

THE        LAST        DAY 

"On  Monday  morning,  March  28,  he  got  up  in  the  best 
of  spirits.  The  promise  of  a  permanent  orchestra,  the  ap- 
proach of  the  London  season  where  he  was  to  have  such  excel- 
lent  artists,  besides   the   promise  that   all   his   wishes  would   be 

80 


Anton  Seidl 
i8% 


FROM       A       PHOTOGRAPH       BY       DUPONT 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


realized  in  respect  to  the  Ring  of  the  Nibelungen,  including  a 
careful  attention  to  all  the  stage  details,  and  then,  to  crown  the 
whole,  the  conducting  of  Parsifal  at  Bayreuth  —  all  this  was 
calculated  to  raise  his  spirits  to  the  highest  pitch,  so  that  he 
joked  and  laughed  merrily.  At  eleven  o  'clock  he  had  a  rehearsal 
with  Madame  de  Vere  and  Henry  Holden  Huss  ;  after  which  he 
had  another  rehearsal  with  a  foreign  singer.  Later  on  came  Miss 
Farrell,  with  whom  he  conversed  quite  a  while  ;  then  he  took  his 
lunch.  Shortly  before  i  p.  m.  he  left  me  to  go  to  Fleischmann's 
cafe,  where  he  partook  of  black  coffee  and  read  the  papers.  He 
told  me  he  would  be  home  again  by  six  o'clock.  Messrs.  Ysaye 
and  Schueler  arrived  first.  I  asked  the  former  what  time  it  was, 
and  he  answered  6.15.  "  Then  Tony  may  be  here  any  minute," 
I  replied.  Presently  someone  rang  the  door  bell,  and  Bertha 
told  me  that  Mr.  Bernstein,  the  brother  of  my  husband's  man- 
ager, Siegmund  Bernstein,  wished  to  see  me.  Without  suspecting 
anything,  I  went  to  see  him  and  he  told  me  that  my  dear  husband 
had  gone  to  his  manager's  house  quite  illat  five  o'clock;  that  he  had 
had  serious  gastric  trouble,  which,  after  a  spell  of  vomiting,  had 
left  him  unconscious.  On  his  return  to  consciousness  he  felt  con- 
siderably relieved,  saying  that  he  would  come  home  after  resting  a 
little,  and  that  I  should  sit  down  at  the  table  with  my  guests  and 
proceed  with  the  dinner.  I  was  dreadfully  frightened,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  guests,  begged  them  to  proceed  with  the  dinner  and  ex- 
cuse me,  as  I  had  to  go  to  my  husband.  Mv  maid  got  me  a  cab, 
and  I  drove  with  Mr.  Bernstein  to  his  brother's  house.  He  told 
me  there  was  no  danger,  as  a  doctor  had  at  once  been  sent  for,  but 
terror  had  fixed  its  deadly  talons  on  me,  and  the  horse  seemed  to 
crawl.  I  prayed  all  the  time  to  God,  '  Oh,  do  not  let  my  dearest 
fall  ill  ;  let  me  bring  him  home  well.'  When  I  arrived  he  lay 
calmly  in  bed,  but  did  not  open  his  eyes,  nor  did  he  say  anything. 

81 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Naturally  this  frightened  me,  though  his  breath  was  calm  and 
regular.  I  asked  the  physician  if  there  had  been  an  apoplectic 
attack,  but  he  answered  No,  and  showed  that  Tony  could, 
slowly,  move  his  hands  and  feet.  I  thanked  him,  but  still  fear- 
ing the  worst,  I  sent  a  note  to  our  family  physician.  Dr.  Lang- 
mann,  begging  him  to  come  at  once.  The  letter  was  sent  in  our 
cab.  Meanwhile  the  Bernstein  family,  who  were  extremely  kind 
to  me,  begged  me,  whenever  I  tried  to  speak  to  my  husband,  not 
to  disturb  his  sleep.  Unluckily  our  physician  was  not  in  when 
the  note  came.  When  he  at  last  got  it  and  arrived,  he  asked 
me,  after  looking  at  my  husband,  what  he  had  eaten,  as  there 
seemed  to  be  evidence  of  ptomaine  poisoning.  He  immediately 
sent  for  a  stomach  pump,  and  meanwhile  begged  me  not  to  be 
alarmed,  as  my  husband's  heart  had  always  been  very  sound,  and 
the  pulse  was  little  above  the  normal  beat.  He  also  telephoned 
for  his  assistant,  but  before  Dr.  Moscovitch  could  arrive  with  the 
stomach  pump,  a  sudden  change  must  have  come  over  my  poor 
dear  husband,  for  Dr.  Langmann  was  working  hard  to  keep  up 
his  breathing.  Another  physician  was  sent  for,  and  when  both 
the  doctors  arrived,  blood-letting  was  resorted  to — but  in  vain. 
He  was  past  human  aid:  the  noblest,  best  of  hearts  had  ceased 
to  beat." 

Dr.  Langmann  has  kindly  sent  me  the  following :  "Anton 
Seidl's  death  was  due  to  one  of  those  exceptionally  rare  cases 
when  the  roe  of  a  shad  in  springtime  develops  a  deadly  poison,  so 
much  more  deadly  since  it  cannot  be  detected  by  sight,  taste  or 
smell.  There  were  some  minor  chronic  ailments  which  must  be 
considered  as  contributory  causes." 

The  autopsy  revealed  gallstone  and  liver  trouble.  Consid- 
ering the  general  state  of  Mr.  Seidl's  system  it  is  not  likely  that 
he  could  have  possibly  carried  out  the  tremendous  tasks  he  had 

8a 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


taken  upon  himself  for  the  next  year.  Better  than  linger  in  bed 
during  a  long  illness  it  was  that  he  should  die  at  the  moment  of 
his  supreme  glory  and  triumph.  This  reflection  was  the  only 
ray  of  consolation  to  the  poor,  heartbroken  widow  and  the  multi- 
tude of  mourning  friends. 


83 


THE     FUNERAL     SERVICES 


B  Y 


EDGAR      J.     LEVEY 


L 


METROPOLITAN  OPERA  HOUSE, 
Thursday,  March  31,  1898. 

MEMORIAL  SERVICES, 

ANTON  SEIDL, 

Bom  May  6,  J  85a  Died  March  28,  J898. 


ORDER  OF  EXERCISES: 

1.  DIRGE,  -  Musical  Mutual  Protective  Union. 

Ginductor :  Nahan  Franko. 

2.  MALE  CHORUS,      "  Wenn  Zwei  Freunde  Scheiden. " 

Arion  Society.     Conduaor  :  Julius  Lorenz, 

3.  "ADAGIO  LAMENTOSO" 

from  Symphonic  Pathetique,       -      Tschaikowsky. 
Philharmonic  Orchestra.     Conductor :  Richard  Arnold. 

4.  "HELDEN  REQUIEM, "  -         -         H.  ZoeUner. 

Deotscher  Liederkranz.     Conductor :  H.  Zoellner. 

5.  ADDRESS  by   the   Rev.    Merle    St   Croix    Wright. 

6.  "SIEGFRIED'S  FUNERAL  MARCH."         Wagner. 
Philharmonic  Orchestra.    Conductor :  Henry  Schmitt 


THE     FUNERAL     SERVICES 


'■^Tou  shall  not  come  nearer  a  man  by  get- 
ting into  his  house." — Emerson. 


THE  news  of  the  death  of  Anton  Seidl  was  a  shock  for  which 
his  friends  and  the  New  York  musical  public  found  them- 
selves wholly  unprepared.  On  Monday,  March  28,  1898,  in  ap- 
parently good  health,  he  went  after  luncheon  to  the  Vienna  Cafe, 
at  Tenth  Street  and  Broadway,  where  he  was  in  the  habit  of  read- 
ing the  foreign  newspapers  and  meeting  friends.  After  leaving 
there  he  walked  to  the  house  of  his  manager,  Mr.  S.  Bernstein, 
312  East  Nineteenth  Street,  where  he  first  complained  of  feeling 
ill.  Here  his  condition  rapidly  grew  so  much  worse  that  Doc- 
tor Swan,  and  later  Doctors  Moscowitch,  Wagner  and  Lang- 
mann,  were  called  in  attendance.  Their  efforts  were  of  no  avail, 
and  at  10:15  p.  m.  Anton  Seidl  breathed  his  last. 

It  is  a  common  saying  that  the  renown  of  an  interpretative 
artist  is  fleeting  and  rarely  lasts  beyond  his  generation.  If  so, 
there  is,  at  least,  compensation  in  the  intimate  relationship  exist- 
ing with  those  who  come  under  the  immediate  sway  of  his  art — 
a  relationship  which  seems  to  endow  them  with  a  sense  of  pe- 

87 


ANTON       SEIDI.  A       MEMORIAL 


culiar  pride  in  his  fame  and  to  cause  a  sense  of  personal  grief 
at  his  loss. 

Anton  Seidl  held  a  place  in  the  affections  of  the  American 
public  such  as  no  artist  had  ever  held  before,  nor,  likely,  ever 
will  hold.  The  last  are  bold  words  ;  but  with  all  that  the  future 
may  hold  for  art  and  music  in  America,  it  is  safe  to  believe  that 
never  again  will  artistic  conditions  so  ripely  await  the  coming  of 
any  man  as  did  those  which  attended  Seidl's  entrance  into  our  mu- 
sical life.  Arriving  here  at  the  moment  when  the  success  of  mili- 
tant Wagnerism  only  needed  his  authoritative  leadership  for  com- 
plete victory;  obtaining  that  victory  speedily  and  with  it  the  de- 
votion— at  first  partisan,  then  universal — which  always  falls  to 
successful  leadership  in  human  strife,  even  in  art ;  later,  the  ack- 
nowledged centre  around  which  clustered  and  grew  the  many 
activities  of  our  musical  world,  he  was,  at  the  moment  of  his 
death,  in  the  fulness  of  his  powers,  in  the  zenith  of  his  glory, 
and  the  idol  of  lovers  of  an  art  which  finds  its  field  in  the  play 
of  human  emotion.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  ob- 
sequies of  Anton  Seidl  were  attended  by  a  popular  demonstra- 
tion, unique  in  the  depth  of  feeling  displayed  by  many  thousands. 

Mrs.  Seidl  had  at  first  opposed  the  idea  of  a  public  funeral. 
It  seemed  to  her  to  ill  accord  with  her  husband's  simplicity  and 
dislike  of  ostentation.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  his  death  became 
known,  however,  the  universal  desire  of  the  musical  public  to 
give  tangible  expression  to  its  love  and  respect  became  too  ur- 
gent to  be  denied.  As  though  assured  that  there  would  be  a 
public  funeral,  every  prominent  musical  organization  in  the 
city,  instrumental  and  vocal,  professional  and  amateur,  begged, 
by  the  adoption  of  resolutions  and  bv  personal  appeals,  to  be  al- 
lowed to  participate  in  the  services.  The  directors  of  both  the 
Carnegie  Music  Hall  and  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  ten- 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


dered  the  use  of  their  buildings,  and  the  offer  of  the  latter  was 
accepted  as  the  more  appropriate,  it  having  been  with  the  his- 
tory of  opera  in  New  York  that  Seidl's  career  had  been  most 
prominently  identified. 

The  day  of  the  funeral  was  set  for  Thursday,  March  ji. 
The  short  time  allowed  to  perfect  the  arrangements  necessitated 
simplicity  in  the  main  features  of  the  public  function.  There 
was  no  time  to  prepare  for  an  elaborate  display  of  pomp,  even 
had  that  been  thought  fitting.  The  musical  public,  however, 
were  allowed  an  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  their  heart-felt 
grief,  and  their  demonstration  of  that  far  surpassed  in  effect  the 
impression  that  might  have  been  made  by  more  imposing  forms. 

The  services  at  the  Seidl  home.  No.  38  East  Sixty-second 
Street,  were  private.  At  about  12.30  p.  m.  the  funeral  cortege 
proceeding  on  its  way  to  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  found 
the  streets  on  the  route  thronged  with  sympathetic  observers. 
Not  until  the  procession  reached  the  corner  of  Fortieth  Street 
and  Fifth  Avenue,  however,  did  the  funeral  take  on  its  public 
character. 

At  this  point  there  were  gathered  a  hundred  representative 
musicians  of  the  Musical  Union,  who  had  volunteered,  under  the 
leadership  of  Victor  Herbert  and  Nahan  Franko,  to  act  as  a  full 
military  band  to  play  funeral  music  to  and  from  the  opera  house. 
Preceding  the  hearse,  this  band  with  thrilling  volume  and  rich- 
ness of  sound  began  the  great  Beethoven  funeral  march  (op.  26). 
The  opera  house  was  reached  at  1.20  p.  m.  The  streets  on  all 
sides  were  crowded  with  people  who  had  been  unable  to  obtain 
entrance,  but  who  waited  so  that  they  might  at  least  uncover 
with  bowed  heads  as  the  coffin  passed  before  them.  The  ad- 
mirable police  arrangements  prevented  the  great  mass  of  people 
from  becoming  unmanageable. 

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ANTON       SEIOL  A       MEMORIAL 


The  pallbearers  were  Richard  Arnold,  Carl  Schurz,  Rafael 
JosefFy,  Eugene  Ysaye,  Victor  Herbert,  George  G.  Haven,  A. 
Schueler,  Oscar  B.  Weber,  E.  Francis  Hyde,  David  Liebmann, 
Walston  H.  Brown,  Henry  Schmitt,  Charles  T.  Barney,  Albert 
Stettheimer,  Julian  Rix,  Louis  Josephthal,  H.  E.  Krehbiel,  Dr. 
William  H.  Draper,  Xaver  Scharwenlca,  Richard  Watson  Gilder, 
August  Spanuth,  James  Speyer,  E.  N.  Burghard,  Paul  Goepel, 
Edward  A.  MacDowell,  Henry  T.  Finck,  Zoltan  Doeme,  Al- 
bert Steinberg  and  Edgar  J.  Levey. 

Preceded  by  the  pallbearers  and  followed  by  the  mourners 
the  remains  were  borne  into  the  house  while  the  brass  band  on 
the  stage  played  a  solemn  dirge.  Instantly  the  vast  assemblage 
arose  and  remained  standing  while  the  sad  procession  marched 
down  the  aisle.  The  strains  of  the  music  were  broken  by  the 
sobbing  of  many.  Nothing  more  dramatic  had  ever  been  seen 
on  the  stage  than  that  entrance.  The  same  thought  was  in  the 
minds  of  everyone.  All  that  was  mortal  of  Anton  Seidl  was 
entering  the  house  of  his  greatest  triumphs  "zum  letzten  mal" — 
for  the  last  time.  His  house,  it  almost  seemed  ;  and  this  a  last 
home-coming. 

The  four  walls,  the  auditorium,  the  stage  were  felt  to  be 
permeated  with  the  memories  of  those  triumphs.  The  echoes 
of  loud  applause  and  the  cheers  of  bygone  days  lingered  in  the 
air,  and  there  came  to  the  memory  an  overwhelming  rush  of  the 
melodies  of  old. 

Down,  slowly  down  to  the  orchestra  pit,  and  there  on  a 
catafalque  on  the  selfsame  spot  on  which  he  had  so  often  stood 
in  life,  he  took  his  place  again. 

From  the  railing  to  the  stage  the  space  was  draped  in  black, 
and  surrounding  the  catafalque  on  all  sides  were  masses  of  flow- 
ers sent  by  friends,  musicians,  artists  and  singers  from  all   parts 

9° 


ANTON       SEIDL  — -A       MEMORIAL 


of  the  world.  Three  of  these  pieces  call  for  mention.  One  was 
a  conductor's  desk,  bearing  an  open  score,  imbedded  in  the 
flowers  of  which  there  appeared  on  the  one  page  a  portrait  of 
Wagner,  on  the  other,  one  of  Seidl,  and  the  inscription  was 
"  Vereint  auf  Ewig." 

Another  was  a  wreath  of  several  thousand  violets  from  Jean 
and  Edouard  de  Reszke.  The  third  was  a  floral  tribute  from 
Lillian  Nordica,  who  had  ever  taken  pleasure  in  acknowledging 
how  much  of  her  success  in  the  role  of  Isolde  she  owed  to  her 
studies  with  Seidl.  This  bore  the  singularly  appropriate  quota- 
tion from  Isolde's  lament  before  the  body  of  Tristan  : 

"  Closed  is  the  eye,  and  stilled  the  heart,  and  there  is  not 
even  the  zephyr  of  a  passing  breath.  She  must  stand  before 
you  weeping." 

On  the  stage,  which  was  set  as  a  cathedral  and  lighted  by 
many  candles,  sat  the  members  of  the  Philharmonic  Orchestra, 
awaiting  then,  as  so  often  before,  the  rapping  on  the  conductor's 
desk  calling  for  attention.  Surrounded  by  his  friends,  on  the 
one  side  by  the  musicians  he  had  led,  on  the  other  by  the  pub- 
lic he  had  moved,  there  arose  and  enveloped  him  for  the  last 
time  the  waves  of  beautiful  sound  he  had  loved  so  well  to 
evoke. 

The  short  but  effective  musical  programme  was  excellently 
rendered,  the  musicians  being  evidently  moved  and  inspired  by 
the  occasion.  In  the  Tschaikowsky  Adagio,  which  had  been  one 
of  the  favorites  of  Anton  Seidl's  last  years,  there  was  the  note  of 
poignant  grief  running  into  self-abasement  and  crushing  hope- 
lessness ;  in  the  Wagner  number  a  glorification,  an  apotheosis. 

The  eulogy  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wright  was  touch- 
ing and  eloquent.  In  large  part  extemporaneous  and  delivered 
from   but  few  notes,   it   cannot,  unfortunately,   be  reproduced. 

91 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Some  of  his  remarks,  however,  as  recorded  in  the  journals  of  the 
day,  were  as  follows  : 

ADDRESS        OF        MR.        WRIGHT 

"  What  is  the  mind  of  man  to  music  ?  How  can  his  words 
be  heard  beside  its  mighty  voice  ?  Yet  music  was  his  speech. 
Music  is  great,  because  man,  its  maker,  is  first  great.  There 
is  but  one  mind  and  one  voice  that  might  be  desired  here  to-day, 
and  that  is  mute.  He  lies  here  dumb  among  the  tributes  of 
sorrowing  friends. 

"  To-day  we  honor  a  man  who  first  honored  himself,  who 
honored  us,  honored  our  city  and  our  country  by  making 
America  a  worthy  member  of  the  great  international  musical 
family.  He,  as  director  of  the  opera,  had  the  courage  to  give 
music  a  new  birth,  and  he  may  justly  be  called  the  premier  of 
the  music  of  America.  As  the  soldier  is  carried  to  his  grave 
with  flags  lowered  and  amid  the  volleys,  so  it  is  but  just  that  he 
should  lie  here  amid  the  scenes  he  loved  so  well. 

"  This,  our  fellow,  was  a  creator.  His  magic  touch  and 
enchanting  sympathy  opened  a  new  world.  One  such  work  as 
he  has  performed  is  sufficient  achievement  for  a  life.  He  was  a 
foreigner,  but  of  that  class  of  foreigners  who  make  a  country 
native  to  our  souls — a  citizen  of  this  country  preferring  America 
and  by  America  preferred.  He  was  a  leader  perpetual  in  the 
everlasting  war  against  evil,  selfishness,  and  lust,  his  only  thought 
to  uplift  and  ennoble  men. 

"  Though  dead,  he  lives.  His  influence  over  music  is  im- 
perishable. As  music  is  the  mother  of  arts,  and  father  of  sub- 
stantial character,  so  he  brought  his  inspiration  and  comfort  to 
our  wearied  souls.  Music  heals,  unites,  connects,  completes  and 
frees  man  to  his  true  self. 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


"  All  honor  to  Anton  Seidl.  He  is  mourned  by  two  worlds 
because  he  brought  to  each  a  new  world,  the  inward  revelation 
of  the  spirit.  There  lies  his  baton.  No  man  shall  take  it  up. 
Anton  Seidl  was  unique.     Anton  Seidl  forever." 

After  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wright  had  finished  his  words,  and  just 
before  the  funeral  march  was  played,  Mr.  Krehbiel  appeared  on 
the  stage  and  read  the  following  dispatch  sent  from  Wheel- 
ing by  Colonel  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  a  firm  friend  and  devoted 
admirer  : 

DISPATCH        FROM        COLONEL        INGERSOLL 

"  In  the  noon  and  zenith  of  his  career,  in  the  flush  and  glory 
of  success,  Anton  Seidl,  the  greatest  orchestral  leader  of  all  time, 
the  perfect  interpreter  of  Wagner,  of  all  his  subtlety  and  sym- 
pathy, his  heroism  and  grandeur,  his  intensity  and  limitless  pas- 
sion, his  wondrous  harmonies  that  tell  of  all  there  is  in  life,  and 
touch  the  longings  and  the  hopes  of  every  heart,  has  passed  from 
the  shores  of  sound  to  the  realm  of  silence,  borne  by  the  mys- 
terious and  resistless  tide  that  ever  ebbs  but  never  flows. 

"  All  moods  were  his.  Delicate  as  the  perfume  of  the  first 
violet,  wild  as  the  storm,  he  knew  the  music  of  all  sounds,  from 
the  rustle  of  leaves,  the  whisper  of  hidden  springs,  to  the  voices 
of  the  sea. 

"  He  was  the  master  of  music,  from  the  rhythmical  strains 
of  irresponsible  joy  to  the  sob  of  the  funeral  march. 

"  He  stood  like  a  king  with  his  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  we 
knew  that  every  tone  and  harmony  were  in  his  brain,  every  pas- 
sion in  his  heart,  and  vet  his  sculptured  face  was  as  calm,  as 
serene  as  perfect  art.  He  mingled  his  soul  with  the  music  and 
gave  his  heart  to  the  enchanted  air.  He  appeared  to  have  no 
limitations,  no  walls,  no  chains.      He  seemed  to  follow  the  path- 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


way  of  desire,  and  the  marvelous  melodies,  the  sublime  harmon- 
ies, were  as  free  as  eagles  above  the  clouds  with  outstretched  wings. 

"  He  educated,  refined  and  gave  unspeakable  joy  to  many 
thousands  of  his  fellow-men.  He  added  to  the  grace  and  glory 
of  life.  He  spoke  a  language  deeper,  more  poetic  than  words — 
the  language  of  the  perfect,  the  language  of  love  and  death. 

"  But  he  is  voiceless  now  ;  a  fountain  of  harmony  has  ceased. 
Its  inspired  strains  have  died  away  in  night,  and  all  its  murmur- 
ing melodies  are  strangely  still. 

"  We  will  mourn  for  him,  we  will  honor  him,  not  in  words, 
but  in  the  language  that  he  used. 

"  Anton  Seidl  is  dead.  Play  the  great  funeral  march.  En- 
velop him  in  music.  Let  its  wailing  waves  cover  him.  Let  its 
wild  and  mournful  winds  sigh  and  moan  above  him.  Give  his 
face  to  its  kisses  and  its  tears. 

"  Play  the  great  funeral  march,  music  as  profound  as  death. 
That  will  express  our  sorrow — that  will  voice  our  love,  our  hope, 
and  that  will  tell  of  the  life,  the  triumph,  the  genius,  the  death 
of  Anton  Seidl." 

At  the  last  words  the  Philharmonic  Orchestra  began  the 
funeral  interlude  from  Die  Gbtterd'dmmeriing  and  as  its  last 
fading  notes  died  away  the  final  tribute  of  love  and  respect 
had  been  paid  by  the  music-loving  public  of  the  metropolis 
of  the  western  world,  where  Seidl  had  made  his  home. 

"  Und  scheint  die  Sonne  noch  so  schon, 
Am  Ende  muss  sie  untergehen  !  " 

The  procession  reformed  and,   preceded  as  before  by  the  band 
of  musicians  from   the   Musical  Union,  the   remains  were   taken 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


to  the  crematory  at  Fresh  Pond,  where  they  were  incinerated  in 
accordance  with  the  wish  that  Seidl  had  so  often  expressed. 

In  the  vast  throng  that  filled  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  at  these  obsequies  there  may  have  been  a  few  whose 
presence  was  to  be  accounted  for  merely  by  that  curiosity 
which  often  prompts  people  to  attend  any  imposing  public 
ceremony.  To  such,  if  we  may  imagine  them  as  unmusical 
and  ignorant  of  the  peculiarly  intimate  relation  that  existed 
between  Seidl  and  the  New  York  public,  it  must  have  been 
a  cause  for  astonishment  that  there  should  have  been  man- 
ifested such  deep  emotion  on  the  part  of  so  many  thousands, 
most  of  whom  could  have  had  no  personal  acquaintance  with 
the  dead. 

Why  should  such  depth  of  feeling  be  exhibited  for  one 
with  whom  no  glance  had  been  exchanged,  between  whom  no 
word  had  ever  passed  ?  Why  did  the  sense  of  loss  seem  so  per- 
sonal ? 

For  these  thousands  a  well-beloved  friend  had  indeed 
passed  away — none  the  less  a  friend  because  their  communion 
with  him  had  not  been  by  spoken  words.  For  with  friendship 
it  is  far  less  the  spoken  word  that  counts  than  that  sympathy 
which  is  the  consciousness  and  realization  of  common  under- 
standing and  emotion. 

Music  is  the  artistic  expression  of  emotion  ;  and  when 
music  stirs  the  heart  there  is  at  once  established  between  all 
listeners  a  mutuality  of  sentiment,  the  sincerity  of  which  is 
never  paralleled  in  any  spoken  exchange  of  ideas.  Toward  the 
moving  cause  of  this  wonder — the  interpretative  artist — why 
should  there  not  exist,  when  the  feeling  is  deep,  such  gratitude 
as  is  known  only  in  ideal  friendship  ?  But  Anton  Seidl  was 
more  than  an  interpretative  artist:  he  reproduced.     All  dramatic 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


music  is  the  physical  expression  of  the  composer's  emotion  ;  and 
a  great  artist,  if  not  so  overmastered  by  the  sensualism  of  his  art 
as  to  seek  a  mere  tribute  to  the  beauty  of  musical  forms,  will 
arouse  that  same  emotion  in  his  audience. 

It  was  in  his  dominant  freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  musi- 
cal notation  that  Seidl's  greatness  appeared  most  manifest.  He 
did  not  read  from  his  scores  as  one  would  read  from  a  book ; 
but,  like  a  great  orator,  he  mastered  their  contents  and  then  de- 
livered them  for  the  message  that  was  there. 

Music  alone  of  all  the  arts  speaks  solely  through  terms  of 
sensual  beauty,  and  it  is  too  often  true  that  a  musical  perform- 
ance finds  in  its  means  its  end  ;  if  the  ear  is  pleased,  what  mat- 
ters it  if  the  heart  be  left  untouched  ? 

Anton  Seidl  cared  for  no  music  that  did  not  stir  the  pulse. 
But  if  he  was  moved  he  would  move  others;  for  it  was  his  gift  that 
he  could  reproduce  in  tones  whatever  he  felt,  naturally,  unaffect- 
edly, truthfully,  powerfully.  In  his  conducting  he  ever  sought 
out  the  feeling  that  underlay  the  composition,  and  the  same 
emotions  that  in  the  heart  of  the  composer  first  gave  the  music 
birth  he  reproduced  in  the  hearts  of  his  listeners.  He  never  let 
music  play  itself,  or  "  played  it  through  "as  the  phrase  is.  Hence 
the  universal  tribute  to  his  "  strong  individuality  "  ;  which  meant 
nothing  more  than  an  acknowledgment  that,  like  the  perfect  or- 
ator, he  had  mastered  the  spirit  of  the  composition  and  spoke  with 
conviction.  Many  conductors,  lacking  this,  and  with  the  end  of 
only  enouncing  the  physical  beauty  of  musical  forms,  are  frequently 
betrayed  into  timidity  in  the  execution  of  phrases.  For  such  as 
these,  the  creators  and  followers  of  that  arid,  pseudo-classical 
tradition,  so  chilling  to  art,  there  is  no  expression  in  music  where 
none  has  been  specifically  indicated  by  the  composer.  If  music 
were  always  to  be  interpreted  by  great  artists,  composers  would, 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 

doubtless,  like  Sebastian  Bach,  eschew  indications  of  tempi  and 
avoid  all  dynamic  marks.  With  Seidl,  the  expression  was 
instinctive,  and  the  discourse  never  flagged  ;  never  became 
monotonous  or  commonplace  ;  and  if  it  had  been  possible  to  musi- 
cally annotate  his  readings,  the  scores  would  have  been  inde- 
cipherable from  the  multitude  of  marks  of  expression. 

Under  him  the  orchestra  truly  approached  the  Wagner 
ideal  of  an  ever-moving  sea  of  sound  ;  the  ebb  and  fall,  the 
swell  and  hush  of  the  music  were  continuous  and  ever  changing. 
The  sympathy  of  his  audiences  responded  to  the  beats  of  his 
baton  until  it  seemed  as  though  it  were  less  the  instruments  of 
his  musicians  than  the  attuned  hearts  of  his  listeners  upon  which 
he  was  playing. 

And  so  it  was  that  the  thousands  mourning  at  the  bier  of  a 
dead  musician  with  whom  they  had  never  exchanged  a  word, 
grieved  for  the  loss  of  a  friend  with  whom  they  had  so  often 
undergone  the  same  emotions.  The  essence,  the  ideal  of  friend- 
ship was  there  ;  and  that  they  had  been  moved  together  under 
the  spell  of  music,  rather  than  by  the  less  potent  force  of 
spoken  words,  did  but  warrant  the  realization  of  a  closer  in- 
timacy. 


97 


SOME     PERSONAL     TRIBUTES 


THE    PHILHARMONIC    SOCIETY 


THE  first  rehearsal  for  the  eighth  concert  of  the  Philharmonic 
Society  was  conducted  by  Anton  Seidl,  the  second  by  the 
concert  master  Mr.  Richard  Arnold,  and  the  third  by  Mr.  Van 
der  Stucken,  of  Cincinnati.  One  of  Mr.  Seidl's  favorite  compo- 
sitions, Beethoven's  Ninth  Symphony,  was  on  the  programme. 
Under  the  circumstances  the  last  movement  with  the  Hymn  to 
Joy  was,  of  course,  omitted  and  in  its  place  was  played  the  Dead 
March  from  Die  Gdtterddmmerung,  which,  as  at  the  memorial 
services,  brought  tears  to  many  eyes. 

The  following  official  notice  was  given  out  with  the  pro- 
gramme : 

"  The  Philharmonic  Society  of  New  York  closes  its  fifty- 
sixth  season,  the  most  successful  and  prosperous  in  its  history, 
in  sorrow  and  mourning,  through  the  sudden  decease  of  its  late 
honored  conductor,  Mr.  Anton  Seidl. 

"After  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Theodore  Thomas  in  1891, 
Mr.  Seidl  was  elected  conductor  of  the  society,  and  has  since 
continuously  served  in  that  position  until  his  sudden  demise, 
while  actively  engaged  in  preparation  for  the  present  concert. 
Under  his  leadership  the  society  has  uniformly  prospered  in  its 
attendance  and  in  its  artistic  results,  and   the   members  desire  to 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


place  on  record  their  profound  respect  for  his  consummate  at- 
tainments as  a  musician  and  their  deep  sense  of  loss  in  his 
decease. 

"  Mr.  Seidl's  genius  for  conducting  was  innate,  but  was  fos- 
tered by  assiduous  study  and  long  early  association  with  the 
masters  of  this  generation.  His  remarkable  insight  into  the 
orchestral  works  performed  by  the  society  and  the  vitality  and 
charm  of  these  performances  under  his  direction  will  long  be 
cherished  in  the  memories  of  those  who  have  been  guided  by 
him  in  their  performance  and  by  those  who  have  listened  to 
their  interpretation." 

A     BROOKLYN     TRIBUTE 


I  OVERHEARD  to-day  a  child's  remark,  one  who  had  not 
reached  fourteen  vears  ;  it  was  intended  only  for  the  mother's 
ear.  She  knew  and  loved  the  great  artist  Seidl  in  the  simplicity  of 
the  soul's  life.  Through  the  past  five  years  in  his  public  work  she 
had  learned  through  him  to  understand  and  love  the  mas- 
ters, and  was  looking  forward  to  further  education  under  this 
great  interpreter.  Having  wept  to  exhaustion,  upon  the  news  of 
his  death,  which  came  with  such  appalling  suddenness,  she  said  : 
"  We  grieve,  and  it  seems  impossible  to  believe  he  is  gone, 
but  I  cannot  but  feel  he  has  passed  into  that  higher  sphere  to 
influence  all  musicians  more." 

It  was  a  truth  I  needed,  and  it  is  a  truth  especially  needed 
by  his  afflicted  wife.  Our  hearts  cry  out  in  anguish  and  rebel- 
lious questioning,  though  we  have  known  him  only  through  his 
work.  Such  glorious  work  !  We  shall  never  forget  those  soul 
feasts    in    the   Brighton     Beach     Music    Hall  until    memory  is 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


merged  In  the  delights  of  eternity.  Those  nights  and  days 
when  we,  through  this  great  apostle  of  art,  were  taught  how 
great  is  the  immortal  soul  of  man  !  Those  nights  of  Liszt, 
Wagner,  Mendelssohn  and  Beethoven  !  Still,  withal,  was  he 
hampered,  misunderstood  and  criticised,  unable  to  bring  his  work 
to  the  desired  perfection  because  of  paltry  dollars,  as  ever  to- 
ward that  perfection  he  worked  in  patient  love.  We  knew  what 
his  work  was,  when  orchestral  circumstances  permitted  the 
moulding  by  his  master  hand  of  the  fine  material  under  him. 
But  what,  oh  merciful,  pitying  God,  what  must  be  the  desolation 
of  the  heart  of  his  stricken  wife  ?  But  desolation  only,  in  the 
first  frightful  severance  of  such  a  tie,  as  existed  between  this 
greatest  of  all  conductors  and  the  companion  and  partner  of  his 
life's  work  :  she  being  a  musician,  could  support  and  comfort 
him  in  his  moments  of  disappointment  and  discouragement. 
None  need  such  loving  support  as  pre-eminently  as  the  artist 
on  all  lines.  But  could  she  and  we  lose  for  a  time  our  own 
sense  of  awful  sorrow  and  loss,  to  look  out  in  spirit  and  see  that 
nature,  expressing  itself,  without  limitation,  in  the  company  of 
those  mighty  souls  whose  work  he  interpreted  in  so  unparalleled 
a  way,  one  could  be  glad  in  his  joys,  and  forgetting  our  desola- 
tion, rejoice  with  him  and  for  him.  Then,  blessed  truth  to  all 
sorrowing  hearts,  he  is  not  dead,  but  living  !  Not  merely  living 
in  the  hearts  of  all  those  who  were  privileged  to  work  with,  and 
therefore  truly  know  him,  but  living,  individually,  living  as  are 
all  the  great  and  mighty  ones,  aiding  and  abetting  the  spiritual 
work  of  art. 

Those  who,  in  their  sordid,  narrow,  uninspired  lives,  have 
thought  him  cold,  let  them  read  his  article  in  the  Music  of  the 
Modern  World,  "  About  Conducting,"  and  see  there  if  such 
can  feel  the  mighty  pulsation  of  the  artist  soul  and  recognize  at 

103 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


once  the  modesty  as  man  and  as  musician,  the  manly  assertion 
of  his  work,  who  through  the  master  hand  could  harmoniously 
blend  the  different  parts  of  the  orchestra  into  one  great  and  per- 
fect instrument.  That  article  is  a  classic,  in  its  purity  of  lan- 
guage, depth  of  truth  and  artistic  enthusiasm  !  It  was  just  what 
we  who  have  loved  and  known  him  would  have  expected.  In  it 
one  recognizes  how  great  and  magnanimous  he  was ;  as  he  ex- 
plains the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  of  orchestral  work  as 
it  exists  to-day ;  hampered  as  it  is  by  lack  of  means  from  be- 
ing a  permanent  orchestra  in  which  all  the  artists  work  to  the 
mutual  benefit  of  all,  instead  of  being  forced  to  seek  outside 
work  to  support  themselves  and  fimilies.  He  knew  he  had 
been  criticised  and  blamed  through  the  misunderstanding  of 
his  critics,  yet  he  simply  makes  an  impersonal  explanation  for 
the  benefit  of  musicians,  for  the  better  understanding  of  music 
as  an  art. 

How  could  we  know  that  those  high,  pure  and  lofty  senti- 
ments, crystallized  in  perfect  form,  were  to  be  his  last !  Those 
who  knew  him  best  knew  he  had  only  begun  to  be,  where  in 
individual  work  he  cared  to  express  himself  musically. 

P.  E.  A.  L. 

Brooklyn,   March   31,    1898. 

BY     ALBERT     STEINBERG 


SEIDL       THE       MAN 

ON  an  early  winter  afternoon,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  there 
stood  near  the  dingy  railway  station  in  Bayreuth  a  slender, 
smooth-faced  man — he  looked  scarcely  more  than  a  boy  then — 
who  could  not  conceal  his  grief  as  did  the  older  people  who  en- 
deavored to  console  him. 

104 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


First  a  man  with  a  reddish  beard  and  huge  spectacles  ap- 
proached him  and  spoke  a  few  kind  words.  This  was  Hans 
Richter,  and  every  one,  even  the  foreigners,  instantly  recognized 
the  High  Priest  of  Wagnerian  Art.  The  couple  were  presently 
joined  by  a  veritable  giant  of  a  man,  who  had  in  his  pale  blue 
eyes  the  dreamy  and  yet  the  penetrating  glance  of  a  prophet. 
"  Albert  Niemann,"  whispered  the  crowd  of  mourners,  for  Rich- 
ard Wagner's  body  was  expected  from  Venice,  and  the  little 
town  of  Bayreuth  was  draped  from  end  to  end  in  mourning  and 
the  lanterns  were  flickering  feebly,  it  being  a  dark,  bleak  and 
miserable  day. 

The  little  group  referred  to  grew  larger  every  minute, 
Levi,  Piglhein,  Lenbach,  Reichmann  and  a  host  of  other  notabili- 
ties appeared  upon  the  scene.  They  all  spoke  in  hushed  tones 
and  the  young  man  seemed  never  to  hear  a  word. 

Who  was  he  that  he  should  grieve  so  much  more  than  the 
others  ?  An  artist  without  a  doubt.  His  sensitive  features  and 
the  shock  of  hair  that  flew  wildly  about  his  face  would  have 
told  you  as  much  the  moment  you  set  eyes  on  him. 

A        MAN        TO        KNOW 

But  was  he  also  near  of  kin  to  the  dead  man  that  he  should 
be  so  utterly  unnerved .''  The  writer  of  these  lines  addressed 
himself  to  the  Count  Schukowski,  the  master  of  ceremonies  on 
that  lamentable  day,  and  was  told  that  the  disconsolate  young 
man  was  "  no  other  than  Anton  Seidl.  He  had  at  one  time  been 
Wagner's  private  secretary,  and  had  triumphantly  taken  Angelo 
Neumann's  '  Wagner-Theatre,'  not  alone  through  Germany,  but 
also  through  Italy.  The  master  always  had  a  great  afl^ection  for 
Seidl,"  the  Count  continued,  "  had  taken  the  warmest  interest  in 
his  career ;   he  feels,  of  course,   as    if  he    had   lost    his   dearest 

105 


\ 

ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


friend.  You  should  know  him,  for  he  is  a  man  of  great, per- 
sonal charm  and  surely  a  remarkable  artist,  for  you  know  that 
Richard  Wagner  never  had  the  least  patience  with   any  one  who 


wasn  t. 


Little  did  I  think  that  the  man  who  interested  me  so  much 
then  was  destined  to  spend  nearly  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
America. 

For  in  the  fall  of '85  I  was  suddenly  accosted  on  the  street 
bv  a  friend,  who,  before  I  knew  it,  presented  me  to  Anton  Seidl. 

I  told  him  that  it  wasn't  our  first  meeting,  and  when  I  re- 
called to  him  the  incidents  of  that  mournful  day  in  Bayreuth 
he  instantly  grasped  me  by  the  hand  as  if  I  were  indeed  an  old 
friend.  He  spoke  sadly  and  reminiscently  of  the  first  meeting, 
but  when  I  said  :  "  Now,  really,  Kapellmeister,  what  did  you 
think  of  the  funeral  march  from  Gotterddmmerung  as  it  was 
played  by  the  Bayreuth  town  band  at  Wagner's  funeral  ?  "  he 
burst  into  uncontrollable  laughter,  for  his  sense  of  musical 
humor  was  of  the  keenest. 

''lohengrin''      revealed     anew 

A  few  weeks  after  this  encounter  Seidl  conducted  for  the 
first  time  in  New  York,  Lohengrin  being  the  opera.  We  all 
thought  we  knew  that  opera  perfectly  well,  and  yet  it  sounded  so 
differently  that  many  of  us  were  greatly  puzzled.  Not  alone  were 
the  climaxes  built  up  in  a  strange  manner,  the  melos  brought 
out  in  a  more  plastic  fashion,  and  a  hundred  lovely  poetic  details 
supplied  that  were  formerly  missing,  but  the  opera,  as  I  have  al- 
ready observed,  sounded  differently.  Being  asked  why  this  was 
so,  Mr.  Seidl  smiled  and  even  winked,  but  refused  to  give  any 
further  explanation.  For  my  own  part,  I  think  that  Mr.  Seidl 
may    have    had   the   same  experience  with  Lohengrin  in    New 

106 


ANTON       SEIDL   A        MEMORIAL 


York  that  Hans  Richter  had  in  London.  When  the  latter  re- 
hearsed  the  opera  the  first  time  in  the  EngHsh  capital  it  sud- 
denly leaked  out  that  the  parts  contained  no  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-six  errors,  and  that  it  had  been  given  in  this 
way,  mistakes  and  all,  for  something  like  a  quarter  of  a 
century. 

Let  that  be  as  it  may,  Anton  Seidl  was  acclaimed  a  musician 
of  the  highest  type  the  moment  he  made  himself  heard  here. 
And  his  success  grew  apace.  With  every  new  interpretation  the 
number  of  his  adherents  became  larger,  their  admiration  more 
fervent. 

AN         ''aMERICAMANIAC'' 

Wherefore  Mr.  Seidl  determined  forthwith  to  settle  down 
here  with  his  wife — who,  as  Auguste  Kraus,  was  known  as  one  of 
the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  German  Opera  Company — and 
to  become  an  American  citizen.  In  those  days  he  was  afflicted 
with  "  Americamania  "  in  its  acutest  form.  Everything  appealed 
to  him — our  democratic  ways,  our  enthusiasm  for  the  works  of 
Wagner,  our  mixed  drinks,  our  Welsh  rarebits,  our  American 
clubs,  our  American  scenery.  He  lived  for  a  while  with  his 
wife  in  West  Thirty-eighth  street,  but  decamped  quickly  for  rea- 
sons that  had  better  not  be  told,  though  a  French  maker  of  farces 
would  embrace  you  for  telling  him  these  reasons.  Resolving 
never  to  be  taken  in  again,  Anton  Seidl  and  his  wife  took  up 
their  quarters  for  a  while  in  the  apartments  of  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House,  but  it  was  not  until  they  took  a  house  of  their 
own  that  even  their  intimate  friends  had  the  slightest  notion  of 
the  couple's  charming  domestic  attributes.  For  never  was  there 
a  house  in  which  you  met  with  such  boundless  hospitality,  with 
such  truly  interesting  people. 

107 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


MIME,       THE       SPOILED       CHILD 

At  first  it  contained,  besides  the  servants,  but  four  inmates — 
viz.,  Mr.  Seidl,  Mrs.  Seidl,  Bertha,  their  trusted  companion,  and 
Mime.  Mime  was  the  spoiled  child  of  the  family  and  the 
sweetest,  cleverest  and  most  devoted  Dachshund  that  ever  came 
over  the  water.  To  be  sure  he  was  not  very  musical,  but  he 
could  do  things  that  no  "  Dackel  "  ever  did  before.  When  he 
saw  other  "  Dackels  "  showing  off,  by  sitting  for  a  moment  on 
their  hind  legs,  Mime  would  bark  in  derision,  for  Mime  always 
sat  on  his  hind  legs.  It  was  as  easy  to  him  as  is  the  G  minor 
Mendelssohn  concerto  to  a  modern  piano  virtuoso. 

There  were  other  and  finer  things  that  Mime  could  do. 

Thus,  when  Mrs.  Seidl  would  say,  "  Wie  spricht  der  Hund  " 
(let  me  hear  the  dog  speak),  this  canine  prodigy  would  actually 
talk.  What  he  said  was,  of  course,  intelligible  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Seidl  only  ;  also,  perhaps,  to  the  faithful  Bertha,  who  would 
obligingly  interpret  to  the  visitor  the  wise  remarks  of  Mime. 
But  even  the  man  who  was  not  up  in  Dachshund  lore  could  un- 
derstand the  sapient  Mime  the  moment  the  lid  of  the  grand 
piano  was  opened.  He  would  growl  and  snarl  and  retire  to  the 
dining-room,  for  music  made  his  breast  savage,  and  neither  Bach 
nor  Wagner  would  soothe  him  in  the  least.  As  soon  as  all  had 
become  quiet  again  Mime  would  reappear  in  the  drawing  room 
to  exhibit  to  the  astonished  guests  his  most  artistic  feat.  Walk- 
ing on  his  hind  legs,  he  would  approach  Mr.  Seidl  and  "  speak  " 
in  most  ingratiating  tones.  Mime's  master  would  refuse  to  listen 
until  the  dog  whined  and  begged  and  implored.  Then,  and  not 
until  then,  would  Mr.  Seidl  lower  the  hand  which  held  his  burn- 
ing cigar,  from  which  Mime  with  his  left  paw  would  brush  off 
the  ashes.  To  describe  the  amazement  of  the  uninitiated  visitor, 
the  delight  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Seidl,  and  the  haughty  pride  with 

io8 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


which  Mime — his  feat  once  accomplished — would  take  himself 
off  to  bed  is  really  quite  impossible. 

EARLY        FRIENDS        IN        AMERICA 

In  the  early  days  of  his  American  life  Mr.  Seidl  had  only 
a  few  friends  who  saw  much  of  him.  He  cared  but  little  for 
society  and  he  did  not  acquire  the  English  language  as  easily  as 
did  his  wife.  The  circle  then  consisted  of  Mr.  Edgar  J.  Levey, 
now  assistant  Deputy  Controller,  who  was  so  brimful  of  musical 
enthusiasm  that  he  even  studied  German  to  make  himself  intelli- 
gible ;  of  Mr.  Oscar  B.  Weber,  of  Niemann,  the  most  com- 
manding figure  of  the  German  operatic  stage,  and  several  others. 
Wagner's  music  was  not  as  familiar  then  as  it  is  nowadays,  and 
nothing  gave  Anton  Seidl  greater  joy  than  to  sit  down  at  the 
piano  and  unfold  to  his  friends  the  beauties  of  Wagner's  scores. 
He  had  little  or  no  technique  from  a  virtuoso's  point  of  view. 
And  yet  he  played  the  instrument  in  a  manner  that  was  unique. 
His  touch  was  so  beautiful  that  the  piano  seemed  to  sing,  and 
he  could  play  in  a  manner  that  was  truly  orchestral. 

THE        MUSIC        HE        LOVED 

The  music  of  Wagner  was,  of  course,  his  religion,  but  he 
loved  Bach  passionately.  If  ever  vou  took  him  in  his  study  un- 
awares you  found  him  pondering  over  a  prelude  or  a  sonata  of  the 
pious  old  cantor.  Latterly  he  was  wrapped  up  in  Tschaikowsky, 
too,  and  these  three  masters — Bach,  Wagner,  and  Tschaikowsky 
— he  revered  more,  I  think,  than  any  other  composers.  They 
appealed  more  strongly  to  his  temperament ;  but  it  must  not  be 
thought  for  that  reason  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  other 
things  he  undertook,  for  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  old  saw 
that  what  is  worth  doing  at  all  is  worth  doing  well,  and  nothing 

109 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


could  have  been  more  unjust  than  the  charges  which  were  fre- 
quently brought  that  Mr.  Seidl  slighted  all  music  that  was  not 
Wagnerian.  These  rumors  frequently  prejudiced  people  against 
him,  especially  distinguished  singers  and  pianists.  Yet  when 
Mr.  Seidl  unexpectedly  led  Faust  one  evening  Jean  de 
Reszlce,  who  had  never  sung  this  opera  under  him  before,  re- 
marked to  me  :  "  I  was  never  so  surprised  in  my  life,  for  I  never 
sang  with  so  much  ease  and  assurance  before.  The  man  seemed 
to  anticipate  everything  I  did,  and  accompanied  me  as  if  we  had 
studied  the  part  together  for  years." 

Similarly  did  Mr.  Joseffy  express  himself  to  me  when  he 
first  played  to  Seidl's  accompaniment  one  of  the  Tschaikowsky 
concertos  in  Philadelphia  some  years  since.  "  Seidl  can  conduct 
anything — when  he  wants  to,"  was  the  virtuoso's  verdict. 

seidl's     wit     and     wisdom 

No  one  enjoyed  this  qualified  panegyric  more  than  Seidl  did 
himself  when  he  heard  of  it.  It  cannot  be  said  that  he  was  a 
great  wit  himself,  but  he  greatly  admired  that  quality  in  others. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  possessed  a  certain  dry  humor  that  was 
delicious,  and  which  was  doubly  delightful  to  those  who  under- 
stood the  Austrian  dialect,  in  which  he  always  spoke.  To  men- 
tion but  two  of  his  sallies  which  went  the  rounds  at  the  time  they 
were  made. 

A  young  singer  whose  voice  was  gorgeous,  but  whose 
talent,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  was  infinitesimal,  often  pestered 
him  by  asking  him  his  advice.  She  had  just  been  making  bad 
slips  at  a  rehearsal  and  came  to  him,  score  in  hand,  saying, 
with  a  mixture  of  composure  and  contriteness,  "  Now,  what  do 
you  advise  me  to  do,  Herr  Kapellmeister  ?  "  And  gazing 
steadfastly  at  the  young  woman  for  a  minute  or  two  he  retorted. 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


with  the  utmost  deliberation,  "  I  advise  you  "  —  emphasizing 
the  latter  pronoun — "  to  marry  some  rich  old  tradesman."  And 
the  lady  did ! 

Again,  when  the  agents  of  Richard  Strauss  made  what  he 
considered  exorbitant  demands  for  the  performance  of  "  Thus 
Spake  Zarathustra,"  Mr.  Seidl  observed,  "  I  know  that  Zara- 
thustra  spoke  a  great  deal,  but  he  didn't  say  that  much." 

Rehearsals  worried  him  ineffably,  for  he  was  always  willing 
to  give  up  hours  of  his  time  to  them,  to  discuss  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  orchestra  what  he  thought  and  felt  and  what  he 
wanted.  On  such  occasions  he  was  never  met  even  half-way. 
The  instrumentalists,  who  owed  him  much,  instead  of  listening 
to  wisdom  such  as  they  may  never  hear  again,  bethought  them- 
selves of  their  private  lessons  and  often  grew  restive  till  Mr. 
Seidl  himself  lost  all  patience. 

A       FAVORITE       RESORT 

But  rehearsals  or  no  rehearsals,  and  in  good  humor  or  in 
ill-humor,  you  could  see  him  every  afternoon  at  about  three 
wending  his  way  to  the  Cafe  Fleischmann,  situated  at  the  corner 
of  Tenth  Street  and  Broadway.  Detesting  walking  as  he  did,  he 
would  take  the  Fourth  Avenue  car,  and,  indifferent  to  all  climatic 
conditions,  always  stand  on  the  front  platform  smoking  his  cigar. 
To  the  majority  of  the  drivers  and  brakemen  the  gentleman 
in  the  high  silk  hat,  and  the  long  hair,  was  known  simply  as 
"  The  Professor."  That's  a  funny  little  democratic  way  we've  got. 
A  few  who  were  curiously  interested  made  it  their  business  to  dis- 
cover his  identity,  and,  upon  boarding  the  car,  courteously  saluted 
him  as  "  Mr.  Seadle." 

But  his  was  a  familiar  figure  not  at  Fleischmann's  alone, 
but  in  all  uptown  resorts  as  well.     At  the  Waldorf-Astoria,  at 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  Stewart  House  (where  he  stopped  whenever  his  town  house 
was  closed),  and  at  Delmonico's,the  attendants  looked  pleased  the 
moment  they  clapped  eyes  on  him,  for  he  was  not  only  exceed- 
ingly generous,  but  also  very  courteous  to  those  who  ministered 
to  his  wants. 

The  most  lovable  side  of  the  man's  nature,  however,  was 
revealed  when  he  was  quite  free  from  care.  Before  he  went  to 
London  for  the  last  time,  he  went  to  his  summer  home  in  the 
Catskill  Mountains.  There,  in  a  place  called  Fleischmann's — 
though  better  known  by  its  former  name  which  was  Griffin's 
Corners — Mr.  Seidl  was  as  full  of  life  and  pranks  as  a  school- 
boy. Had  the  place  been  a  bit  of  his  own  Hungarian  Father- 
land, he  could  not  have  been  fonder  of  it.  And  when  any  of 
his  friends  came  up  from  the  city  to  visit  him  he  was  in  a  ver- 
itable transport  of  joy.  Nothing  was  too  good  for  such  a  one, 
and  Mrs.  Seidl,  who  was  one  of  the  most  loyal,  devoted  wives 
man  ever  had,  vied  with  her  husband  to  make  the  guest  feel  at 
home. 

Heavens,  how  those  people  did  feast !  Even  Mr.  Pepys,  of 
diary  fame,  would  have  been  satisfied.  A  dozen  people  could  have 
turned  up  for  dinner  unexpectedly  and  yet  the  supply  of  Leber- 
knoedel-Suppe,  of  trout,  of  Backhaendl  and  of  Apfelstrudel  would 
never  have  given  out.  The  wines,  too,  being  of  the  choic- 
est vintage,  the  house  naturally  rang  with  mirth  and  laughter  upon 
such  occasions. 

HIS        DUMB        FRIENDS 

But  when  there  were  no  people  Mrs.  Seidl,  in  spite  of  a 
horde  of  servants,  would  herself  look  alter  her  vegetable  garden 
or  after  her  kennel,  for  Mime  no  longer  ruled  as  autocrat  in  the 
house  of  Seidl.     He  had  nearly  been   dethroned   by  Wotan,  a 


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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


huge  St.  Bernard,  who  knew  a  trick  or  two  himself.  And,  besides, 
there  were  eight  other  little  Dachshunds,  such  as  "  Froh,"  and 
"  Freia,"  and  "  Valla,"  and  other  crooked-legged  creatures  with 
Wagnerian  names.  Whenever  Mr.  Seidl  was  away  for  a  time 
It  was  a  sight  to  witness  this  regiment  of  canines  scamper  down  the 
hills  to  greet  him  upon  his  return.  They  were  all  tricked  out  in 
ribbons  of  the  gaudiest  colors  ;  some  of  them,  I  do  believe,  carried 
little  flags  in  their  collars,  and  when  the  train  came  in,  down  would 
they  rush  toward  the  station,  making  noises  that  were  surely  never 
heard  even  in  Dante's  Inferno.  But  to  Anton  Seidl's  ears  it 
sounded  like  the  music  of  the  spheres. 

Never  were  dogs  so  petted  and  spoiled  and  pampered,  and 
never  were  dogs  so  shrewd,  so  foxy.  When  Christmas  came 
around  they  knew  it  as  well  as  anyone,  and  the  man  that  would 
have  dared  to  make  Herr  Mime  believe  that  it  was  Easter  would 
have  run  a  good  chance  of  leaving  a  piece  of  his  leg  and  his 
trousers  behind  him.  Upon  my  word,  I  do  also  believe  that  these 
dogs  hungup  their  stockings  on  the  night  of  December  24th  just 
like  other  children,  for  they  had  a  Christmas  tree — not  a  puny, 
measly  tuppenny  Christmas  tree,  but  a  great  big,  splendid  Christ- 
mas tree — and  for  each  dog  there  was  suspended  from  various 
branches  a  huge  sausage,  and  each  sausage  had  a  label  on  it,  such 
as  "  For  Wotan,"  "  For  Mime,"  etc.,  for  those  dogs  could  read! 

TRAGEDY       OF       THE       KENNEL 

And  to  think  of  it!  The  pity^  the  horror  of  it !  In  that 
happy  dog  family  murder  most  foul  was  done  in  the  end  ;  for  one 
day  Wotan,  whose  name  should  have  been  Hagen,  caught 
Mime  by  the  throat,  crushing  the  life  out  of  the  poor,  dear,  faith- 
ful brute  then  and  there. 

To   poor   Mr.   Seidl  this  was,  in  all  seriousness,  a  fearful 

113 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


blow.  He  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  the  big,  treacherous  St. 
Bernard  after  that,  and  when  he  spoke  of  the  murdered  Mime, 
which  he  did  to  his  intimates  only,  he  did  not  mind  showing  his 
grief. 

A  man  that  was  as  fond  as  Anton  Seidl  of  the  dumb  brute 
was  a  good,  a  lovable  man,  depend  upon  it. 

The  music  he  made  often  transported  the  listener  to  heaven. 
His  kindness  to  his  dogs  must  have  made  them  think  they  were 
in  Paradise. 

BY     JAMES     HUNEKER 


SEIDL       THE        SPHINX 

ANTON  SEIDL  is  dead.  When  Balfour  wrote  his  famous 
"Conservation  of  Energy"  we  who  believed  in  impersonal 
immortality  were  delighted.  Here  then  was  a  means  by 
which  one  could  escape  through  the  gateway  of  life  into  eter- 
nity and  without  the  bells  of  dogma  buzzing  on  one's  collar. 
But  test  this  new  evangel  of  science  by  the  heart-throbs  ;  consider 
it  calmly  when  the  soul  cries  in  anguish  for  the  beloved  one  whose 
voice  is  forever  stilled  on  this  side  of  the  sun,  and  how  cold,  how 
artificial,  how  desolate  seems  such  philosophy  ! 

Anton  Seidl  is  dead,  and  shall  we  never  see  him  face  to  face 
again  ?  This  question  obdurately  propounded  itself  to  us  when 
we  saw  a  casket  borne  into  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  the 
last  day  of  March,  and  this  question  smote  us  as  it  was  taken  to 
the  crematory.  Alas  !  it  is  a  question  no  theologian,  no  man  of 
the  laboratory,  may  answer. 

I  met  the  great  Wagner  conductor  in  December,  1885.     I 
well  remember  the  occurrence,  for  I  was  a  hero-worshipper  then, 

i'4 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


and  the  man  with  his  elemental  energy  seemed  a  sort  of  demi- 
god. He  gave  us  a  new  Wagner — the  real  Wagner — and  little 
wonder  he  soon  dethroned  other  conductors.  He  had  the  tem- 
perament ;  above  all  he  had  the  tradition. 

Seidl  had  few  intimate  friends.  I  could  hardly  count  my- 
self among  them.  I  was  seldom  alone  with  him,  yet  each  time 
we  saw  Broadway  in  the  early  morning  light.  Then  he  talked 
— talked  for  hours,  if  not  fluently,  gracefully.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
suppose  his  reticence  meant  ignorance.  On  one  subject  at  least 
he  was  at  home.  He  knew  by  heart  the  Wagnerian  literature 
and  its  polemics.  He  was  saturated  with  Wagner  and  it  was  his 
bible.  He  was  an  organism  framed  by  nature  and  training  for 
conducting.     All  else  was  subordinated  to  this  unique  purpose. 

The  man  was  an  incarnated  baton. 

Seidl  cared  little  for  literature  or  painting,  yet  he  was  not  in- 
sensible to  either.  He  told  a  friend  that  he  purposed  studying 
Brahms.  "  He  is  a  great  man,"  said  he.  He  knew  Schopen- 
hauer, and  spoke  intimately  of  Nietszche  and  Richard  Strauss. 
Yet  the  laconic  habit  of  the  man  was  all  but  irremediable.  He 
was  pervious  to  the  influences  of  good-fellowship,  but  let  a  stranger 
intrude  and  like  some  deep-sea  organism  Seidl  shut  up  and  looked 
grim  things  through  you  and  over  you.  His  face  at  such  times 
was  granitic  ;  carved  in  implacable  stone.  He  made  enemies 
easily,  friends  slowly  ;  his  very  failings  were  virile,  his  virtues 
masculine. 

He  was  a  man  to  his  ensphered  soul ! 

A  slow  irony  variegated  his  speech,  but  it  was  of  the  Jug- 
gernaut sort.  It  crushed  ;  it  killed.  His  smile  was  sweet  and 
it  could  damn,  for  about  his  wonderfully  expressive  mouth  were 
lines  of  sarcasm,  and  while  they  warmed  into  life  in  a  measured 
manner  they  were  none  the  less  effective. 

"5 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Seidl  was  the  greatest  crescendo  maker  this  generation  has 
heard.  We  all  hear  big  crescendos,  but  if  they  are  nervous  they 
lack  weight.  If  they  have  the  right  weight  they  are  apt  to  be 
otiose  and  lacking  in  nerve  fiber.  Seidl  had  the  passionate  pulse, 
and  he  went  down,  down  until  the  very  bowels  of  the  earth  were 
reached.  How  his  basses  did  play  Tristan  and  Isolde,  the  Ring, 
Lohengrin,  Die  Meistersinger !  Who  can  do  more  with  these 
dramas  than  did  Anton  Seidl  ? 

When  Seidl  was  silent  you  could  almost  hear  him  thinking. 
He  had  the  sort  of  personality  that  overpowered  through  sheer 
existing.  Without  any  apparent  volition  on  his  part  he  made 
one  feel  that  he  was  a  distinguished  man — a  man  among  men. 

His  funeral  was  more  impressive  than  any  music  drama 
ever  seen  or  heard  at  Bayreuth.  The  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  was  for  the  moment  transformed  into  a  huge  mortuary 
chamber.  It  was  extremely  picturesque,  yet  sincerely  solemn. 
The  trappings  of  woe  were  not  exhibited  for  their  mere  bravery. 
A  genuine  grief  absorbed  every  person  in  the  building,  and  when 
Henry  Edward  Krehbiel  read  Robert  G.  Ingersoll's  dispatch  the 
quaver  in  his  voice,  a  thousand  times  more  significant  than  the 
rhetorical  phrases  he  uttered,  set  many  sobbing. 

It  was  a  time  for  tears. 

The  stage  setting  was  a  mixture  of  the  church  scene  in 
Faust,  with  suggestions  of  Le  Prophete,  and  even  The  ^een  of 
Sheba.  The  marmoreal  hush,  the  sad  burning  tapers,  the  huge 
multitude,  and  that  casket — that  casket  resting  where  once  on 
his  heels  had  stood  an  erect  man  with  the  eye  of  a  general 
and  the  brain  of  a  poet. 

It  was  overwhelmingly  touching. 

Seidl  had  that  indefinable  quality  we  call  individuality.  His 
mask  was  the  great  comedian's  or  the  mask  of  the  ecclesiastic. 

ii6 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


His  manners  had  a  touch  of  the  churchly,  and  Involuntarily  your 
eye  looked  for  the  Episcopal  purple  ring  on  his  finger.  His 
garb  suggested  the  priestly,  and  with  his  strongly-modelled 
Gothic  head — a  head  the  replica  of  Liszt's — his  picturesque  and 
flowing  hair,  smooth-shaven  face  and  emotional  mouth,  he  was  a 
figure  of  rare  dignity  and  distinction.  His  eyes  alone  were 
eloquent  when  his  other  features  were  Sphinx-like — brown,  al- 
most black ;  while  conducting  they  riveted  his  men  with  a 
glance  of  steel.  It  was  the  eye  omniscient,  for  his  tympanist, 
his  contrabassist,  his  concertmaster  will  tell  you  that  he  seemed  to 
watch  each  and  every  man  thoughout  a  performance.  The  mag- 
netism of  the  man  was  the  magnetism  of  the  sphinx.  It  was  not 
always  a  pleasing  magnetism.  He  went  to  a  Wagner  music-drama 
in  a  sacrosanct  mood.  It  was  his  religion.  Outwardly  as  calm 
as  bronze,  his  orchestra  from  the  first  tap  of  his  stick  felt  the  elec- 
tric impulse,  the  unyielding  will  of  this  Bismarck  of  conductors. 
To  me  he  always  seemed  a  sphinx,  the  sphinx  of  Wagner,  who 
knew  Wagner's  secret  voices  and  interpreted  them  magnificently. 
Alas  !  that  Anton  Seidl  is  dead. 

BY     HENRY     WALLER 


THE  first  time  I  met  Mr.  Seidl  was  about  five  years  ago, 
when  I  had  just  finished  the  score  of  my  first  opera.  The 
Ogalallas.  I  shall  never  forget  his  kindness  to  me  when  I  presen- 
ted myself  tohim,  a  complete  stranger  and  with  a  very  bulky  man- 
uscript under  my  arm.  I  believe  the  servants  of  most  conductors 
have  standing  orders  to  admit  no  one  carrying  any  sort  of  a  par- 
cel which  looks  as  If  a  manuscript  might  be  concealed  in  It.  Mr. 
Seidl,  though,  was  kind  to  everyone  who  went  to  him  for  his 

117 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


advice  or  assistance ;  whether  he  knew  them  or  not  did  not 
matter.  As  an  example  of  this  I  may  mention  that  he  examined 
carefully  the  score  of  my  opera  (and  hard  enough  it  must  have 
been  to  decipher,  since  it  was  my  first  work  for  the  orchestra), 
suggested  many  alterations,  and  took  a  great  amount  of  trouble 
for  one  he  had  never  seen  before.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  my  acquaintance  with  him,  and  he  always  showed  the  same 
kindness  and  interest.  I  have  been  at  his  house  often  when 
people  have  called  to  sing  or  play  to  him,  and  he  always  gave 
them  his  attention.  Once — last  winter — when  I  took  him  the 
prelude  to  an  opera,  Cleopatra,  he  went  all  through  the  score 
with  me — also  asked  me  to  play  it  to  him  ;  and  it  was  only  by 
the  servant  entering  with  a  message  from  Mrs.  Seidl,  "  Would 
Mr.  Seidl  please  go  back  to  his  dinner  .''  "  that  I  discovered  he 
had  left  the  dining  table  to  keep  the  appointment  he  had  made 
with  me.  At  a  rehearsal  of  the  same  prelude,  which  he  played 
at  one  of  the  Sembrich  concerts,  he  took  the  same  pains,  playing 
it  three  or  four  times  till  it  went  to  suit  him.  I  am  dwelling  on 
this  side  of  Mr.  Seidl's  character  because  I  think  that  by  many 
people  he  was  not  credited  with  one  quarter  of  the  real  kindness 
of  heart  he  possessed.  His  manner  at  times  was  abstracted  and 
"  indifferent,"  and  he  had  a  disconcerting  way  of  looking  some- 
times at  people  of  his  acquaintance  as  if  he  had  never  seen  them 
before.  A  stranger  meeting  him  in  one  of  these  moods  might 
have  supposed  him  to  be  of  a  morose  temperament,  hut  the 
contrary  was  the  case,  as  all  who  knew  him  can  testify.  His 
fondness  for  animals  alone  was  a  quite  sufficient  proof  of  the 
kindliness  of  his  nature.  As  to  his  talents,  the  world  has  judged 
of  them  ;  for,  in  spite  of  his  sudden  death  in  the  middle  of  his 
career,  he  had  already  taken  his  place — in  Europe  as  well  as  in 
America — and   as  a  conductor  of  Wagner's  later  works  he  was 

iig 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


supreme.  A  member  of  his  orchestra  told  me  that  the  last  scene 
of  Tristan  and  Isolde  always  moved  Seidl  to  tears,  so  deeply 
did  he  feel  this  wonderful  music.  When  he  died  he  had  not 
only  the  respect  and  admiration  of  the  whole  musical  world,  but 
the  sincere  affection  of  all  who  knew  him. 

BY     HENRY     HOLDEN     HUSS 


HAVING  been  asked  to  give  a  few  personal  reminiscences  of 
Anton  Seidl,  I  would  like  to  recall  some  features  of  a 
picturesque  instance  of  his  versatility,  and  right  here  let  me  pause 
and  say  that  Seidl,  within  certain  well  defined,  limits  was  versatile. 

Of  course  his  great,  supreme  gift  lay  in  his  appreciation  of 
the  intensely  dramatic  moments  of  Wagner's  music,  the  cli- 
maxes— the  Gipfelpunkte  as  the  Germans  would  say. 

His  masterly  power  in  reproducing  the  overwhelming  mo- 
ments of  "Tristan  und  Isolde,  Die  Gdtterddmmerung,  Siegfried, 
etc.,  will  always  be  his  strongest  claim  to  be  numbered  amongst 
the  short  roll  of  giants  who  have  wielded  the  baton  and  played 
upon  great  orchestras  and  vast  audiences,  as  a  violinist  plays 
upon  his  instrument,  but  the  versatility  of  the  man  was  not  so 
widely  known  and  recognized.  One  has,  however,  but  to  re- 
call the  wonderfully  varied  phases  of  emotion  to  be  met  with  in 
Wagner's  music — the  naive  realism  of  The  Flying  Dutchman, 
the  tender  romance  and  poetry  of  Lohengrin  and  Tannhduser, 
the  ideality,  youthful  passion,  rough  humor  and  chivalry  of  Die 
Meistersinger,  the  marvelous  intensity  of  that  flower  of  poesy 
Tristan  und  Isolde,  with  its  white  heat  of  passion,  and  The  Ring 
of  the  Nibelung — that  vast  panorama,  with  its  programme  music, 
the    introductions    to  Rheingold,   WalkUre,  the  Ride  of  the  Wal- 

119 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


kiiren,  the  forest  music  of  Siegfried,  its  heroic  strength,  idyl- 
lic charm,  romance  and  passion,  grotesque  humor,  grandeur, 
tragedy,  and  majesty,  and  last  of  all  Parsifal,  that  wonderful  dual 
picture  of  mediaeval  mystical  poetry,  religious  feeling  and  earthly 
allurement — I  say  one  has  only  to  recall  how  wonderfully  and 
completely  Seidl  entered  into  all  the  manifold  shades  of  feeling 
to  realize  that  in  being  the  great  Wagnerian  interpreter  that 
he  was,  he  manifested  remarkable  versatility.  But  I  wished  to 
tell  of  other  instances  of  this  trait;  for  instance,  his  sympathetic 
and  wonderfully  vivid  and  noble  performance  of  Beethoven's 
Ninth  Symphony.  Seidl,  on  being  told  what  a  deep  impression 
his  conducting  had  made,  replied  modestly  enough  to  me, 
"  Well,  there  you  have  Wagner's  ideas  on  the  subject."  What 
was  specially  striking  was  the  elasticity  of  the  tempi,  making  the 
music  most  spontaneous  in  its  appeal  to  one. 

Then,  again,  witness  his  intime  appreciation  of  Liszt,  Ber- 
lioz, Tschaikowsky,  Dvoi-ak — the  latter  amongst  other  qualities 
with  his  Schubertian  lyricism.  All  moderns,  you  say,  quite  true  ; 
but  with  what  infinitely  varied  differences  in  their  music  !  One 
should  not  forget,  also,  the  dignity  and  self-restraint  of  his 
Bach  interpretations. 

In  summoning  up  these  memories  an  interesting  paradox 
presents  itself,  viz.  :  although  he  was  one  of  the  most  subjective 
of  artists,  yet  in  his  great  moments  you  forgot  his  own  per- 
sonality, the  orchestra,  the  audience,  and  felt  only  the  power 
of  the  music  which  he  was  literally  re-creating  anew  for 
you. 

The  picturesque  instance  of  his  versatility,  of  which  I  wish 
to  take  notice,  occurred  at  the  beautiful  home  of  Mrs.  Phoebe 
Hearst  in  Washington.  The  idea  was  to  present  Haydn  and 
his  orchestra  at  the  Court  of  Prince  Esterhazy. 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Seidl,  the  orchestra,  all  the  guests,  the  lackeys,  everyone  was 
in  the  costume  of  1760.  Seidl,  of  course,  made  an  ideal  figure 
in  the  ancient  costume,  with  his  clear-cut  features,  as  Papa  Haydn, 
a  lost  opportunity  for  a  characteristic  portrait.  And  never  was 
the  farewell  symphony  played  with  greater  delicacy,  refinement 
and  grace.  The  ending  was  especially  effective  with  its  gradual 
diminuendo,  each  musician  blowing  out  his  candle  and  quietly 
leaving  his  desk,  until  Seidl-Haydn  and  his  "  concertmeister " 
were  left  alone  in  the  fast-gathering  gloom. 

One  of  the  numbers  of  the  programme  which  called  forth  an 
interesting  comment  from  him  was  a  little  known  and  archaic 
Trio  of  Haydn  played  by  the  first  violinist,  the  'ceUist  and  my- 
self. The  delicately,  almost  ethereally  toned  grand  piano  was  an 
ancient  instrument,  made  by  Stein,  in  Salzburg  (Mozart's  birth- 
place), in  1760,  with  an  action  like  thistle-down,  and  having  all 
its  black  keys  white  and  its  white  keys  black,  as  an  Irishman 
would  say. 

Seidl  remarked  after  the  performance  of  the  Trio  that  the 
early  chamber  music  of  Mozart  and  Haydn  would  have  better 
balance  if  just  such  old  instruments  were  used.  The  delicacy 
and  discretion  (rare  quality!)  of  Seidl's  accompaniments  of  a  couple 
of  Mozart  Arias  sung  by  Mme.  Blauvelt  at  the  same  concert 
proved  that  the  great  Wagnerian  conductor  had  the  same  love 
and  appreciation  for  Mozart  that  Wagner  himself  possessed. 

In  suggesting  the  writing  of  this  little  tribute  of  affection, 
the  editor  desired  me  to  tell  how  helpful  Anton  Seidl  had  been 
in  giving  counsel  and  advice  in  regard  to  my  compositions,  as 
this  kindly  side  of  his  character  was  one  little  known  to  the  great 
public.  So,  what  otherwise  might  have  been  considered  intrusive 
egotism  will,  I  trust,  be  accepted  as  a  sincere  tribute  of  gratitude. 
Few  musicians  would  have  bothered  themselves  as  he  did,  on  an 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


extremely  torrid  day  at  Brighton  Beach,  to  listen  to  a  violin  con- 
certo, to  go  into  the  pros  and  cons  of  the  instrumentation, 
whether  the  solo  instrument  was  allowed  due  prominence,  etc., 
in  all  displaying  a  discriminating  musicianship  and  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  musical  perspective  which  is,  alas,  so  often  lacking  in 
otherwise  great  conductors.  Although  boasting  at  the  time  of 
but  a  very  slight  acquaintance  with  him,  this  was  but  the  first  of 
many  conferences  about  this  and  other  of  my  compositions,  and 
it  mattered  not  whether  his  criticisms  were  laudatory  or  other- 
wise, I  never  left  him  without  being  stirred  and  inspired  to 
fresh  endeavor.  A  number  of  my  colleagues  can  testify  in  the 
same  way  of  the  generous  and  painstaking  interest  manifested  in 
their  compositions. 

Never-to-be-forgotten  was  the  last  time  I  saw  him  ;  it  was 
the  morning  of  the  day  he  died.  Mme.  de  Vere-Sapio  had  come 
with  me  to  his  home  in  62nd  Street  for  a  piano  rehearsal  of  my 
Cleopatra  s  Death,  which  she  was  to  sing  at  the  last  Philharmonic 
concert.  How  animated  he  was  !  how  full  of  helpful  suggestions 
— suggestions  which  went  to  the  heart  and  marrow  of  the  sub- 
ject ;  in  his  excitement,  beating  time  as  if  the  whole  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  men  of  the  orchestra  were  present,  as  they  doubt- 
less were  to  his  vivid  imagination.  On  leaving  him,  as  if  actuated 
by  an  unconcious  presentiment,  we  inquired  particularly  how  he 
felt ;  he  replied  that  he  was  in  tolerable  health  only,  and  smiled 
as  I  playfully  remarked  that  it  would  never  do  for  him  to  be  ill 
for  the  last  Philharmonic  concert  of  the  season — a  concert,  alas, 
which  was  to  be  his  dirge  ! 

There  was  in  my  experience  only  one  performance  of  the 
Siegfried  death  music,  which  was  played  at  this  concert,  which 
equalled  it  in  impressiveness  and  pathos,  and  that  was  in  the 
great  bare  Munich  Bahnhof  when  Richard  Wagner's  body,  rest- 
ing in  a  plain  gray  freight-car,  with  no  distinguishing  mark  save 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


a  single  laurel  wreath  lying  on  top,  was  transferred  from  one 
track  to  another,  and  several  combined  military  bands  made  the 
vast  structure  resound  with  the  mighty  apotheosis. 

We,  who  were  the  friends  of  Seidl,  will  always  regret  that 
his  cherished  wish  never  came  to  fruition,  viz.  :  that  of  having  an 
opera  company  under  his  control.  Well  do  I  remember  his 
saying :  "  Once  before  I  die,  I  would  like  to  have  the  Wagner 
operas  and  other  good  operas  :  Fidelia,  Euryanthe,  Don  Juan, 
etc.,  performed  as  they  should  be,  and  especially  the  Wag- 
ner operas,  as  I  know  Wagner  desired  to  have  them.  I  should 
select  with  extreme  care  the  stage  manager,  etc. ;  I  would 
have  rehearsals  of  the  chorus  the  preceding  summer  ;  every  de- 
tail of  the  mise-en-scene  should  be  looked  after  ;  the  goal  should 
be  a  truly  artistic  whole." 

It  is  pleasant  that  the  prospect  of  a  truly  permanent  orches- 
tra, with  opportunities  for  unlimited  rehearsals,  should  have  made 
his  last  days — as  Mrs.  Seidl  remarked — amongst  the  pleasant- 
est  of  his  life.  But  why  did  New  York  wait  until  he  was  on  the 
threshold  of  the  grave  ?  Surely  in  his  case  Shakespeare's  dictum 
that  "  the  good  that  men  do  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones  "  is 
wrong. 

Can  lapse  of  time,  or  other  experiences  ever  rob  us  of  the 
enthralling  delight,  the  poesy,  the  mighty  rush  of  emotions 
awakened  and  called  into  life  by  his  wonderful  dramatic  gifts  ? 

BY     VICTOR     HERBERT 


WHEN  I  first  came  to  the  United  States,  in  1886,  I  had 
known  Anton  Seidl  only  by  his  great  reputation  as  a 
Wagner  disciple,  then  so  widespread  in  Europe.  He  was  at  that 
time  in  the  second  year  of  his  work  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 

123 


ANTON      SEIDL- —  A       MEMORIAL 


House.  The  musicians  comprising  his  orchestra  had  readily  come 
to  appreciate  his  profound  knowledge  of  Bayreuth  tradition,  alike 
of  the  stage  and  the  orchestra.  They  had  found  in  Seidl  a  man 
thoroughly  imbued  with  Wagner's  ideas,  both  in  the  general  con- 
ception and  in  the  smallest  detail  of  each  opera.  He  fairly  bristled 
with  animated  energy,  and  was  ever  alert  to  right  the  minutest  of 
errors.  His  thorough  knowledge  of  this  work,  which  with  him 
was  a  life  passion,  enabled  Seidl  to  make  incredible  progress  with 
both  players  and  singers  in  the  preparation  of  his  superb  produc- 
tions. The  great  presentation  o?  Tristan  and  Isolde  at  the  Metro- 
politan Opera  House  in  the  year  mentioned  was  accomplished 
with  but  five  rehearsals  with  the  orchestra,  including  the  one  set 
apart  for  correction  of  the  orchestral  parts. 

But  our  conductor  never  took  to  himself  any  credit  for  such 
remarkable  achievements.  Always  anxious  to  ascribe  honor 
where  honor  was  due,  he  attributed  this,  the  greatest  success  of 
the  season,  to  perfection  of  discipline  in  the  orchestra,  the  ready 
perception  of  its  members  and  their  fine  routine  in  orchestral 
work.  To  his  soloists  he  was  ever  anxious  to  accord  a  full 
measure  of  praise.  In  1886,  for  instance,  the  principals  included 
Lehmann,  Auguste  Kraus,  Marianne  Brandt,  Niemann,  Robin- 
son, Anton  Schott,  Alvary  and  Herbert-Foerster,  whose  artistic 
contributions  to  these  great  operatic  performances  were  graciously 
recognized  by  the  conductor,  his  characteristic  modesty  invariably 
placing  them  and  the  orchestra  before  himself. 

The  musicians  frequently  saw  that  the  music  affected  Seidl 
most  profoundly.  He  was  a  man  of  deep  emotion.  Certain 
passages  in  Siegfried  and  the  wonderful  closing  scene  of 
'Tristan  always  made  him  cry  like  a  child,  so  that  by  the  time 
the  curtain  had  dropped  he  would  be  in  a  state  of  emotional 
collapse. 

114 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Seidl  was  universally  admired  and  loved  by  the  members  of 
his  orchestra.  He  never  showed  the  faintest  trace  of  false  pride. 
His  players  were  his  companions,  his  helpers  ;  he  was  simply 
one  of  them.  It  was  through  this  strong  bond  of  fraternity  that 
he  came  to  acquire  a  powerful  personal  influence  over  the  instru- 
mentalists which  was  entirely  distinct  from  the  musical  magnet- 
ism exerted  in  rehearsals  and  public  performances.  This  all- 
powerful,  impelling  yet  unfathomable  power  of  control  imperi- 
ously commanded  his  followers  in  the  orchestra  by  first  awaking 
their  entire  interest  and  then  spurring  them  on  to  efforts  that 
they  could  make  under  the  baton  of  no  other  master.  The 
graceful,  incisive,  clean-cut  movements  of  his  stick  were  intelli- 
gible at  all  times.  And,  for  his  part,  Seidl  always  relied  impli- 
citly upon  the  quick  perception  of  his  musicians,  never  wasting 
time  in  unnecessary  explanations  of  what  was  to  be  brought  out 
in  this  bar,  or  avoided  in  that.  We  always  knew  by  a  glance 
from  his  eye  just  what  was  expected  of  us. 

Mr.  Seidl  was  a  man  little  given  to  words.  As  it  was  once  so 
aptly  remarked  of  von  Moltke's  position  in  the  realm  of  scientific 
warfare,  so  may  it  be  said  of  Anton  Seidl  as  a  musician  and  con- 
ductor, that  he  was  "  der  grosse  Schweiger  "  (the  great  silent). 
Yet  he  never  failed  to  say  the  right  thing  in  the  right  place,  and 
many  anecdotes  are  related  of  his  quick  wit  and  dry  humor. 
When  he  talked  it  was  because  he  had  something  to  say;  and  as 
many  of  his  friends  can  attest,  he  was  exceptionally  apt  in  his  re- 
marks. 

Some  years  since,  after  a  performance  of  his  orchestra  at 
Brighton  Beach,  a  few  of  us  sat  down  towards  midnight  for  a 
lunch  with  Mr.  Seidl  in  his  favorite  cafe.  There  were  present 
in  the  little  party  several  musicians,  and  among  the  enthusiastic 
amateurs  of  music  a  prominent  New  York  manufacturer,  who  was 

125 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


an  ardent  admirer  of  Italian  opera.  For  twoscore  years  or  more 
had  this  gentleman  faithfully  attended  all  of  the  Italian  opera 
presentations  in  New  York  ;  he  had  fraternized  with  all  the  famous 
artists  who  sallied  forth  from  their  Milan  stronghold  to  make 
conquests  of  New  World  audiences.  As  one  would  naturally  ex- 
pect, during  the  course  of  the  evening  he  turned  the  drift  of  con- 
versation upon  the  subject  of  his  favorite  hobby.  Niemann  was 
present,  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  there  may  have  been  another  singer 
or  two  in  the  little  gathering.  All  save  Seidl  had  something  to 
say  about  the  decadence  of  the  ultramontane  school  of  opera.  Fin- 
ally, when  the  subject  seemed  to  have  been  exhausted,  the  conduc- 
tor made  a  few  remarks. 

He  was  known  to  be  very  fair  in  his  judgment  of  men  and 
their  works.  He  admired  all  that  was  good  in  Italian  operatic 
music,  but  was  ready  to  condemn  what  was  rubbish.  Many  of 
the  singers  from  sunny  Italy  he  regarded  as  great;  Campanini's 
glorious  voice  and  superb  vocal  art  were  his  especial  admiration. 
But  his  profound  regard  for  the  eternal  fitness  of  things  appeared 
to  instigate  this  brief  succinct  expression  of  his  views  on  the  topic 
under  discussion. 

"In  the  property  room  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House, 
gentlemen,  there  is  a  helmet."  He  paused  for  a  moment,  reflec- 
tively puffed  at  his  cigar,  and  then  resumed  :  "  It  may  be  tarnish- 
ing now,  but  a  year  or  two  ago  it  was  brightly  burnished.  If  you 
were  to  hunt  it  up  you  would  find  that  this  specimen  is  much 
like  other  helmets  save  for  the  '  Schwanritter '  emblem  which  it 
bears.  It  was  made  for  Lohengrin,  and  my  dear  friend  Cam- 
panini  wore  it  in  a  truly  magnificent  performance  of  the  role. 
Yet  if  you  were  to  find  that  helmet  to-day  you  would  discover 
that  in  addition  to  the  prescribed  dimensions  and  insignia  of  this 
piece  of  knightly  headgear   Mr.  Campanini  had  put  on  a  blue 

iz6 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


plume,  probably  three  feet  in  length.     That,  my  dear  gentlemen, 
is  Italian  opera." 

Seidl's  death  was  the  pathetic  termination  of  a  career  which 
had  just  fairly  realized  its  highest  ambitions.  He  had  just  come 
into  the  acquisition  of  all  that  he  hoped  for.  Strong  influence 
had  secured  for  Seidl  a  substantially  permanent  orchestra.  This 
was  a  well-deserved  recognition  of  his  merits  and  talents.  He 
had  the  Philharmonic  Society,  and  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  German  productions.  He  had  the  promise  of  regular 
work  at  Bayreuth  festivals  ;  and  a  permanent  engagement  at  Cov- 
ent  Garden,  in  London.  And  in  the  midst  of  all  this,  the  ripe 
harvest  of  a  busy  life,  Seidl  was  stricken  down. 


[27 


APPRECIATIONS 

BY 

MUSICAL     CRITICS 


BY     H,     E.     KREHBIEL 


A  FEELING  very  much  akin  to  dismay  has  filled  the 
music-lovers  of  New  York  since  Anton  Seidl  died  sud- 
denly on  the  night  of  March  28th,  1898.  Until  he  was  gone,  it 
was  hard  to  realize  how  large  a  place  he  had  filled  in  the  musical 
economy  not  only  of  New  York,  but  the  world.  His  death  left  a 
gap  in  the  operatic  forces  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  New 
York,  and  Covent  Garden,  London  ;  robbed  the  Philharmonic 
Society  of  New  York  of  a  conductor  under  whom  it  enjoyed  six 
seasons  of  unexampled  prosperity;  weakened  the  artistic  props  of 
the  Wagner  festivals  at  Bayreuth,  which  have  been  more  and  more 
in  need  of  fortification  as  the  enterprise  has  gained  in  worldly 
wealth  ;  orphaned  a  number  of  undertakings  which  looked  to  the 
edification  and  entertainment  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada  in  the  course  of  coming  seasons.  He  was  within  a 
step  of  the  attainment  of  a  position  quite  without  parallel  in  the 
history  of  musical  conductors  in  respect  of  the  scope  and  influence 
which  would  have  been  opened  to  his  labors,  when  he  died,  and 
this  it  is  that  made  his  death  seem  so  utterly  grievous  and  dis- 
astrous. It  was  a  loss  not  to  one  community,  but  to  many;  not 
to  a  single  artistic  institution,  but  to  art  itself. 

i3« 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Mr.  Seidl's  activities  in  New  York  compassed  twelve  sea- 
sons. He  came  in  the  fall  of  1885,  to  be  the  first  conductor  of 
the  German  opera,  then  domiciled  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  and  he  remained  at  the  head  of  that  notable  institution 
until  Messrs.  Abbey  &  Grau  and  their  Italian  cohorts  overthrew 
the  German  regime  in  i  891.  When  his  labors  ended  at  the  opera, 
they  began  with  the  Philharmonic  Society.  Mr.  Theodore 
Thomas,  who  had  long  been  the  conductor  of  the  society,  went 
to  Chicago  in  1891,  and  Mr.  Seidl  became  his  successor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  season  1891-92.  In  that  season  performances 
in  Italian  were  resumed  at  the  Opera,  and  Mr.  Seidl's  labors 
were  confined  to  the  concert-room.  So  they  were  during  the 
season  of  1892-93,  when  the  destruction  of  the  interior  of  the 
Metropolitan  Opera  House  made  operatic  representations  im- 
possible. In  the  next  two  seasons  Mr.  Seidl  conducted  the 
Sunday-night  concerts  given  by  Messrs.  Abbey  &  Grau,  but  the 
director's  desk  at  the  Opera  House  did  not  know  him  till  Ger- 
man was  added  to  the  official  operatic  languages,  in  the  fall  of 
1895.  Then  he  again  became  a  Metropolitan  Opera  conductor, 
and  so  remained,  extending  his  labors  to  London  in  the  spring 
of  1897,  and  to  Bayreuth  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year.  He 
was  under  contract  to  conduct  the  representations  of  Wagner's 
lyric  dramas  in  London  and  New  York  in  the  seasons  of  1898 
and  1 898-1 899.  But  this  does  not  sum  up  the  range  of  his 
action.  During  the  entire  period  of  his  American  residence,  he 
conducted  a  vast  majority  of  the  orchestral  concerts  given  under 
other  auspices  than  those  of  the  institutions  mentioned,  and  he 
was  extending  his  activities  more  and  more  widely  with  each 
year,  so  that  it  may  correctly  be  said  that,  had  he  lived  to  carry 
out  the  plans  which  he  had  laid  down  for  the  next  season  here 
and  abroad,  he  would  have  been  unique  among  the  world's  con- 

132 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ductors  in  the  variety  and  extent  of  his  labors  and  the  reach 
of  his  influence.  This  fact  is  in  itself  a  proof  of  the  strong  per- 
sonality of  the  man.  Had  he  been  the  most  skilful  master  of 
orchestral  and  operatic  routine  in  the  world,  or  the  most  accom- 
plished academician  in  his  field  and  nothing  more,  he  could  not 
have  so  impressed  himself  upon  contemporary  music,  could  not 
have  made  the  need  of  himself  felt  in  such  a  degree  in  two  hemi- 
spheres. 

What  manner  of  man  and  musician,  then,  was  he  ?  More 
distinctively  than  any  of  his  colleagues,  even  those  whose 
training  was  like  unto  his,  a  product  of  the  tendencies  given  to 
reproductive  art  by  Richard  Wagner.  He  represented  those  ten- 
dencies in  all  their  aspects,  positive  and  negative,  creative  and 
destructive,  progressive  and  regressive.  In  all  the  things 
wherein  his  greatness  lay,  he  was  the  embodiment  of  an  author- 
ity which  asked  no  justification  and  brooked  no  denial.  Out- 
side his  specific  field  he  was  an  empiric — one  of  a  noble  sort  like 
Wagner  himself,  indeed,  but  an  empiric  nevertheless.  He  had 
no  patience  with  theories,  but  a  wondrous  love  for  experiences. 
In  him,  impulse  dominated  reflection,  emotion  shamed  logic.  It 
was  much  to  his  advantage  that  he  came  among  an  impression- 
able people  with  the  prestige  of  a  Wagnerian  oracle  and  archon, 
and  much  to  the  advantage  of  the  cult  to  which  he  was  devoted 
that  he  made  that  people  "  experience  "  the  lyric  dramas  of  his 
master  in  the  same  sense  that  a  good  Methodist  "  experiences  " 
religion,  rather  than  to  "  like  "  them.  He  was  a  young  man  when 
he  came,  but  he  had  been  for  six  years  the  musical  secretary  of 
Wagner  and  a  member  of  his  household.  Before  then  he  had 
studied  at  the  Leipsic  Conservatory,  and  afterwards  worked  in  a 
modest  capacity  at  the  Vienna  Opera.  In  Budapest  he  came  under 
the  eyes  of  Hans  Richter,  who  sent  him  to  Wagner  to  perform 

133 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  duties  which  had  once  been  his.  During  all  the  preparations 
for  the  first  Bayreuth  festival,  he  was  one  of  the  poet-compos- 
er's executive  officers.  He  participated  in  the  artistic  manage- 
ment of  the  stage  during  the  performances  of  1876,  and  after- 
ward conducted  the  preliminary  rehearsals  for  the  concerts  which 
Wagner  gave  in  London  and  elsewhere  in  the  hope  of  recouping 
himself  for  the  losses  made  at  the  festival.  Naturally,  when  he 
came  to  New  York  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  repository  of 
Wagnerian  tradition — a  prophet,  priest,  and  paladin. 

It  was  not  given  to  Mr.  Seidl's  friends  to  observe  traces  of 
his  academic  training  except  as  they  may  have  been  preserved  in 
his  skill  at  the  pianoforte.  He  was,  by  open  confession — so,  at 
least,  do  I  interpret  some  of  his  sayings — what  the  Germans 
call  a  Naturalist.  His  branch  of  musical  practice  was  the  repro- 
ductive, and  he  believed  conducting  to  be  an  art  which  in  its 
truest  estate  could  be  acquired  only  by  plenary  inspiration.  It  is 
commonly  said  that  he  was  first  a  pupil  of  Hans  Richter  in  the 
art,  but  he  never  said  so  himself.  On  the  contrary,  he  said 
publicly  that  Richter  had  become  a  conductor  without  lessons, 
and  that,  though  he  had  made  earnest  studies  of  Beethoven  and 
Wagner  with  Richter,  he  had  never  troubled  himself  with  tech- 
nical practice  in  the  manipulation  of  the  baton.  What  he  learned 
in  this  direction  he  learned  chiefly  by  standing  at  the  side  of 
Wagner,  listening  for  him,  and  noting  the  methods  which  Wag- 
ner employed  to  make  his  players  one  with  him  in  understand- 
ing, feeling,  and  aim.  Only  once  have  I  known  him  to  men- 
tion a  technical  feature  of  the  conductor's  art  which  he  deliber- 
ately adopted  from  another's  method.  He  used  the  Munich 
Conductor  Levi's  manner  of  beating  time  in  recitatives.  For 
the  rest,  he  depended  upon  himself — his  influence  at  the  moment, 
his  knowledge  of  the  music,  his  consciousness  of  command  over 

134 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


men.  The  first  essential  in  conducting  he  held  to  be  complete 
devotion  to  the  music  in  hand.  The  conductor  must  penetrate 
to  the  heart  of  the  composition  and  be  set  aglow  by  its  flames. 
That  done,  he  must  make  his  proclamation  big  and  vital,  full  of 
red  blood,  sincere  and  assertive — assertive  even  in  its  misconcep- 
tions. He  had  no  room  in  his  convictions  for  mere  refinement 
of  nuance  or  precision  of  execution.  Too  much  elaboration  of 
detail  he  thought  injurious  to  the  general  effect. 

These  beliefs  were  entirely  consistent  with  his  tastes,  tem- 
perament, and  training,  all  of  which  were  largely,  perhaps  one 
might  say  hugely,  dramatic.  His  heart  went  out  to  music  which 
told  a  story  or  painted  a  picture,  and  in  the  presentation  of  such 
compositions  he  became  all-compellingly  eloquent.  Sometimes, 
too,  he  found  picturesque  elements  in  most  unexpected  places, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  variations  which  make  up  the  last  move- 
ment of  Brahms's  symphony  in  E  minor.  As  a  rule,  Brahms's 
music  lay  beyond  the  horizon  of  his  sympathies,  but  this  tre- 
mendous Passacaglia  seemed  to  warm  him,  and  he  read  it  better 
than  he  did  anything  else  of  him  who  was  the  master  symphonist 
of  his  age. 

Despite  his  belief  that  an  ounce  of  gift  outweighed  a 
pound  of  schooling  in  the  art  which  he  practised,  and  that 
finish  in  detail  was  wholly  subordinate  to  general  effect,  nothing 
was  plainer  to  the  careful  observer  of  Mr.  Seidl's  recreative 
processes  (for  such  all  of  his  readings  were)  than  that  it  was 
his  knowledge  of  the  potency  of  details,  and  his  capacity  for 
lifting  those  of  essential  value  into  prominence,  upon  which 
his  superb  triumphs  depended.  As  a  master  of  climax,  I  have 
never  met  his  equal ;  and  he  attained  his  climaxes,  in  which  the 
piling  of  Pelion  on  Ossa  by  other  men  was  exceeded,  by  the 
most  patient  and   reposeful  accumulation  of  material,  its  proper 

135 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


adjustment,  and  its  firm  maintenance  in  popular  notice  when 
once  it  had  been  gained.  The  more  furious  the  tempest  of  pas- 
sion which  he  worked  up,  the  more  firmly  did  he  hold  the  forces 
in  rein  until  the  moment  arrived  when  they  were  to  be  loosed, 
so  that  all  should  be  swept  away  in  the  melee.  None  of  his  con- 
freres of  Bayreuthian  antecedents  can  work  so  directly,  so  elemen- 
tally, upon  an  audience  as  did  he.  With  him  in  the  chair,  it  was 
only  the  most  case-hardened  critic  who  could  think  of  compar- 
ative tempi  and  discriminate  between  means  of  effect.  As  for  the 
rest,  professional  and  layman,  dilettante  and  ignorant,  their  souls 
were  his  to  play  with  so  they  were  at  all  susceptible  to  the  kind 
of  music  which  he  preached  as  an  evangel.  Puissant  as  he  was 
when  conducting  Fidelia,  or  putting  a  symphony  or  opera 
"  through  the  Wagnerian  sieve  " — as  Albert  Niemann  once  de- 
scribed the  process  to  which  he  had  subjected  La  Juive,  much 
to  the  vitalization  of  the  old  French  work — he  was  transfigured 
when  he  conducted  Parsifal  or  Tristan  und  Isolde. 

And  now  for  some  purely  personal  and  individual  impres- 
sions of  the  man.  Anton  Seidl  was  one  of  those  strong  char- 
acters that  give  an  interesting  tinge  to  all  manner  of  incidents 
with  which  they  chance  to  be  associated,  even  though  they  be  of 
themselves  commonplace.  Like  Moltke  he  could  hold  his 
tongue  in  seven  languages,  but  singularly  enough  his  habitual 
taciturnity  never  made  his  company  any  the  less  interesting. 
Moreover,  when  the  mood  was  on  him  he  could  talk  "  an  hour 
by  his  dial ";  and  then  his  reminiscences  of  the  years  spent  in 
the  household  of  Wagner,  or  the  story  of  his  experiences  while 
carrying  the  gospel  of  the  poet-composer  through  Europe  were 
full  of  fascination.  But  the  talkative  mood  seldom  came  upon 
him  when  surrounded  by  a  crowd.  He  was  indifferent  to  the 
many  and  fond  of  the  few,  and  so  his  circle  of  really  intimate 

136 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


friends  never  grew  large  in  spite  of  the  multitudes  who  sought 
and  obtained  his  acquaintance.  No  combination  of  circum- 
stances could  disturb  his  self-possession,  yet  he  seemed  to  be 
most  contented  and  comfortable  when  seated  quietly  "  under  four 
eyes,"  as  the  Germans  say.  Even  under  such  circumstances  he 
would  sometimes  sit  for  minutes  at  a  time  without  speaking 
himself  or  expecting  a  word  from  his  companion,  yet  never  show 
a  sign  of  weariness  or  ennui.  In  this  respect  he  was  something 
like  Schumann,  of  whom  it  is  told  that  once  he  spent  an  hour 
with  a  charming  young  woman  to  whom  he  was  fondly  attached 
without  uttering  a  word.  Knowing  his  peculiarities  she,  too,  re- 
mained silent  and  was  rewarded  for  her  self-restraint  by  his  speech 
at  parting,  which  was  to  the  effect  that  the  hour  had  been  one  in 
which  they  had  understood  each  other  wholly  and  perfectly. 
Mr.  Seidl's  hero,  Wagner,  was  the  antipodes  of  Schumann  in 
this  respect,  and  there  is  a  story  which  indicates  that  he  must 
frequently  have  been  amused  at  his  pupil's  reticence.  Coming 
to  a  rehearsal  he  found  that  Seidl  had  contracted  a  cold  that  had 
robbed  him  of  every  vestige  of  voice.  Wagner  laughed  immod- 
erately and  with  mock  seriousness  upbraided  him  for  his  bad 
habit  of  talking  too  much  which  had  now  brought  him  to  the  pass 
that  he  could  not  talk  at  all. 

His  epistolary  habits  were  like  his  conversation.  He  wrote 
as  seldom  as  he  talked,  but  as  the  talking  fit  sometimes  seized 
him  so  did  the  writing  fit.  Then  he  could  devote  hours  to  a  letter 
which  had  the  dimensions  and  sometimes  also  the  style  of  a  formal 
literary  essay.  In  this  kind  of  writing  he  was  so  prone  to  drop 
into  a  pulpit  manner  that  I  once  taxed  him  with  it  and  jokingly 
asked  for  an  explanation.  He  paused  for  a  moment  then  smil- 
ingly made  a  sort  of  half  confession  that  he  had  once  been  des- 
tined for  the  priesthood.      His  fondness   for  Scriptural  illustra- 

137 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


tions  and  his  "  preachy  "  manner  were  habits  which  had  clung 
to  him  from  that  early  day.  They  were  the  only  academic  relics 
about  him,  however.  I  doubt  if  any  of  his  friends  ever  heard 
him  discuss  a  question  in  the  theory  or  history  of  music.  How 
far  his  exact  knowledge  in  the  art  went  I  shall  not  undertake  to 
determine  ;  one  thing  is  certain,  it  embraced  every  measure  of 
Wagner's  greater  works. 

He  seldom  spoke  of  his  conservatory  days  at  Leipsic  and 
then  generally  in  a  tone  of  amusement.  One  day  I  compli- 
mented him  on  his  pianoforte  playing,  and  he  replied,  laughingly  : 
"  Oh  !  I  made  quite  a  stir  at  a  conservatory  examination  once 
with  Mendelssohn's  Rondo  Capriccioso.  I  was  to  be  a  pianist." 
That  he  might  have  been  moulded  into  a  virtuoso  can  easily  be 
believed,  for  without  paying  much  attention  to  the  graces  of 
pianoforte  playing  he  had  a  remarkable  command  of  those  tone 
qualities  that  are  so  helpful  in  expressive  playing.  He  was 
always  eloquent  at  the  instrument  when  playing  excerpts  from 
Wagner's  great  dramas,  and  several  times  when  he  played  the 
illustrations  for  my  lectures  I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  discourse  after  he  had  played  the  music  accom- 
panying the  death  of  Tristan,  or  the  funeral  march  from  Die 
Gotterddmmerung.  His  pianoforte  expositions  were  peculiarly 
full  and  orchestral  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  did  not  confine  him- 
self to  pianoforte  arrangements,  but  preferred  to  play  from  the 
orchestral  score,  which  he  had  at  his  fingers'  ends.  That  he  ap- 
preciated the  importance  of  adjusting  method  to  media  he  exem- 
plified once  at  a  rehearsal  which  he  gave  to  a  pianist  who  had  to 
be  called  to  my  assistance  suddenly  because  he  had  unexpect- 
edly been  summoned  to  duty  at  the  opera.  The  pianist  and  I 
were  familiar  with  Mr.  Seidl's  tempi  and  one  or  the  other  gave 
expression  by  look  or  word  to  surprise  when  he  urged  that  one 

138 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


excerpt  be  played  considerably  faster  than  it  came  from  his  baton 
at  the  opera.  He  answered  the  query  sententiously :  "  Nie 
langweilig  werden  am  Klavier  !  "  ("  You  should  never  grow 
tedious  at  the  pianoforte  !  ") 

As  an  evidence  of  his  reticence  touching  his  thoughts,  feelings 
and  intentions,  I  wish,  in  conclusion,  to  offer  a  story,  though  it 
has  a  personal  bearing.  Fully  three  years  before  his  death  I 
discovered  that  he  had  developed  a  desire  to  compose.  For 
that  alluring  department  of  music,  composition,  I  did  not 
think  he  possessed  any  large  measure  of  qualification.  I  was 
therefore  not  a  little  surprised  to  have  him,  after  hours  of  general 
conversation,  ask  me  for  a  libretto.  I  told  him  of  a  book  of 
words  that  I  had  planned  and  carried  out,  in  part,  on  a  subject 
drawn  from  Norse  mythology  ;  but  I  had  a  dramatic  ballad  in 
mind,  not  an  opera,  and,  though  he  asked  it,  I  declined  the 
costly  and  difficult  undertaking  of  putting  together  an  opera 
book.  Long  afterward  I  learned,  but  not  from  him,  that  he 
had  turned  his  thoughts  to  an  aboriginal  American  subject,  and 
wanted  to  essay  what  he  described  as  an  "  American  Nibelungen- 
lied."  I  had  suggested  the  Iroquois  legend  of  Hiawatha — not 
that  treated  by  Longfellow,  but  the  story  which  has  a  basis  of 
history  and  connects  Hiawatha  with  the  foundation  of  the  Con- 
federacy of  the  Five  Nations.  He  appealed  to  Francis  Nielson, 
who  wrote  the  book  for  him.  All  this  without  a  hint  of  his  in- 
tentions to  me.  In  the  fall  of  1897  we  met  in  Cleveland,  he 
being  on  a  concert,  I  on  a  lecture  tour.  He  asked  for  some  speci- 
mens of  Indian  music,  and  I  sent  him  a  large  number  selected 
because  of  their  illustration  of  the  characteristic  elements  of 
Indian  melody  and  rhythm.  We  talked  them  over  afterward, 
but  he  gave  no  sign  of  the  fact  that  he  was  working  on  an  Indian 
opera. 

•39 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


BY     F.     N.     R.     MARTINEZ 


ANTON  SEIDL  is  dead.  He  was  the  foremost  interpreter 
of  the  works  of  Richard  Wagner.  He  had  Hved  in  the 
master's  intimacy,  he  had  studied  him  and  his  works  in  the  close 
communion  of  the  family  circle  ;  he  had  been  taught  by  him  with 
affection  ;  he  had  been  trusted  by  him.  In  a  sense  Seidl  was  the 
art  legatee  of  Wagner.  The  bequest  he  had  received  was 
the  mission  to  propagate  the  doctrine  of  modern  development  in 
music,  as  promulgated  by  Wagner  in  his  music  dramas.  He 
had  been  Wagner's  pupil ;  he  was  to  be  his  disciple.  He  ful- 
filled his  task.  The  new  evangel  of  music  he  preached  has 
become  the  universal  faith.  Others  have  worked  by  his  side, 
but  in  America  he  was  the  dominant  and  controlling  force.  He 
died  in  the  plenitude  of  his  powers,  with  honors  crowding  upon 
him.  His  future  was  fraught  with  added  fame.  If  he  had 
regrets  they  must  have  been  softened  by  the  consciousness  that 
he  had  been  true  to  his  creed,  and  had  helped  to  make  the  world 
better  and  happier.  His  domestic  life  was  happy.  He  was 
reserved,  taciturn,  serious  in  his  public  relations.  In  the  in- 
timacy of  his  friends  he  became  expansive.  He  had  wit,  humor, 
breadth  of  view,  catholicity  of  opinion.  He  loved  nature. 
In  his  mountain  home — his  cottage  on  one  of  the  Catskill  slopes — 
he  was  most  contented.  He  loved  America,  but  he  adored 
his  native  Hungary.  He  was  a  patriot.  His  death  is  a  cal- 
amity. 

Among  the  four  or  five  men  who  may  be  said  to  have  been 
determinate  factors  in  the  forming  and  development  of  the 
musical  culture  of  the  United  States,  Anton  Seidl  stands  pre- 
eminent.    Carl  Bergmann,  Theodore  Thomas,  Leopold  Dam- 

140 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


rosch,  William  Gericke  and  Arthur  Nikisch  have  each  done 
much  to  build  up  and  better  the  public  taste  for  the  best  in 
music.  To  the  latter  two  the  country  owes  its  possession  of  one 
of  the  finest  executive  musical  bodies  in  existence.  Bergmann 
and  Thomas  were  the  pioneers  in  the  field  of  symphonic  music. 
The  latter  was  the  first  to  sow  the  seeds  of  an  appreciation 
of  what  was  then  the  "  music  of  the  future,"  and  is  now  accepted 
as  the  dominant  principle  in  musical  art.  Dr.  Damrosch  followed, 
and  in  his  too  brief  career  he  gave  further  impetus  to  the  artistic 
trend  of  the  community's  studies.  But  it  was  Seidl  who  finally 
fixed  the  attitude  of  this  country  towards  Wagner  and  made 
America  an  influence  and  a  controlling  factor  in  the  conflict  of 
views  which  may  now  be  said  to  be  ended. 

When  Seidl  was  brought  to  America  and  placed  in  a  position 
of  responsibility  at  the  head  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House, 
the  public  was  in  a  prepared  state.  Everything  depended  upon 
the  new  man  ;  his  task  was  a  difficult  one.  In  brief,  it  was  to 
preach  and  proclaim  the  gospel  of  Wagner,  to  expose  and  de- 
velop the  principles  involved  in  the  doctrine,  to  give  authoritative 
interpretations  of  its  spirit,  to  make  clear  its  emotional  purport, 
its  moral  and  ethical  significance,  its  universality. 

The  task  was  one  of  extreme  danger.  Wagnerism  was  then 
considered  a  fad.  Its  devotees  were  few,  its  detractors  were 
many.  The  doctrines  were  new,  radical,  revolutionary.  They 
seemed  to  be  destructive.  They  were  denounced  as  formulations 
of  musical  anarchy.  A  weak  man,  a  timid  man,  an  opportunist, 
placed  in  Seidl's  position  might  have  killed  the  growing  taste  in 
America.  The  harvest  might  have  been  ruined,  and  the  work 
of  the  pioneers  who  had  cleared  the  ground,  ploughed  it  and 
sown  the  seeds,  might  have  been  all  in  vain. 

But  Seidl  was  neither  a  weak  nor  a  timid  man.    He  was  sin- 


141 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


cere,  loyal  and  armed  with  conviction.  His  creed  was  broad  and 
firmly  planted.  His  purpose  was  strong  and  clearly  defined. 
He  had  knowledge,  sympathy  and  power.  He  was  a  vigorous 
man,  born  to  command.  His  personality  was  positive  and  mag- 
netic.    He  became  the  man  of  the  hour. 

His  success  commenced  with  the  first  wave  of  his  con- 
ductor's baton.  On  that  memorable  night  in  November,  1885, 
when,  with  characteristic  New  World  hospitality,  he  was  welcomed 
to  the  conductor's  seat  in  the  orchestra  pit  of  the  old  Metro- 
politan Opera  House,  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  music 
in  America  was  inaugurated.  Seidl  was  immediately  accepted 
for  his  originality,  his  strength  and  his  authority.  The  Wagner- 
ites  rallied  around  him.  The  disciple  had  been  found,  the 
prophet  was  here.  Societies  of  propagation  were  formed.  Some 
took  the  name  of  the  master,  others  that  of  the  missionary. 
The  propaganda  was  pursued  with  energy  through  the  channels 
of  Art,  of  Literature  and  of  Society. 

It  would  all  have  been  futile,  though,  had  there  not  been 
the  practical  demonstrations  by  Seidl  to  convince  the  doubters, 
to  conquer  the  indifferent  and  to  fortify  the  enthusiasts. 

Since  then  the  career  of  the  dead  maestro  has  coincided  with 
the  progress  of  musical  culture  in  America.  New  York  has  be- 
come one  of  the  great  musical  centres  of  the  world.  Seidl  in 
death  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  foremost  of  modern  musi- 
cians. 

The  span  of  Seidl's  career  was  a  short  one.  It  barely  ex- 
tended over  a  quarter  of  a  century.  It  really  began  in  the 
autumn  of  1872.  The  young  Hungarian  had  only  been  a  stu- 
dent up  to  that  time — in  his  native  Budapest,  at  the  Leipsic 
Conservatory,  and  later  in  the  intimacy  of  Hans  Richter's  circle. 
Then  came  Richter's  recommendation  of  his  pupil  to  Wagner. 

142 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Seidl,  young,  full  of  enthusiasm,  feeling  himself  called  to  be  a 
warrior  in  a  crusade  for  art,  went  to  the  master  and  became  one 
of  his  most  devoted  followers. 

Wagner  recognized  in  him  the  spirit  and  determination  of  a 
man  bound  to  conquer  and  to  control.  He  found  that  his 
young  disciple  needed  but  little  instruction.  Seidl  seemed  to 
divine  Wagner's  ideas  by  intuition.  In  a  short  time  the  young 
secretary  had  become  an  associate.  He  was  constantly  at  Wag- 
ner's side,  in  his  absolute  confidence.  He  became  one  of  the 
prominent  members  of  that  celebrated  circle  of  keen,  intellectual 
and  brilliant  men  that  gathered  at  Bayreuth.  Wagner  gave  up 
the  enormous  details  of  his  work  and  intrusted  Seidl  with  them. 
It  was  Seidl  who  developed  Wagner's  plans  in  the  orchestration 
of  his  giant  scores. 

When  Wagner  undertook  to  give  a  series  of  concerts 
in  London,  it  was  Seidl  who  was  sent  ahead  to  direct  the  re- 
hearsals. Seidl  learned  all  that  Wagner  taught  him,  "  not,"  as 
he  once  explained,  "  by  pedantic  lessons,  but  through  daily,  con- 
stant and  intimate  musical  intercourse  with  the  German  genius." 
He  soon  knew  every  one  of  the  music-dramas  note  by  note. 
His  education  was  not  kept  in  a  narrow  lane.  Wagner  taught 
him  to  share  his  admiration  for  Beethoven,  Mozart,  Weber,  and 
some  of  the  great  French  composers. 

To  this  day  Seidl's  readings  of  Wagner's  scores  are  accepted 
as  unimpeachable.  They  were  derived  from  the  composer  him- 
self and  have  never  been  criticised. 

The  time  came  when  Seidl  wished — and  Wagner  approved 
him  in  the  wish — for  independent  activity.  A  recommendation 
from  Bayreuth  sufficed,  and  Seidl  was  appointed  conductor  at  the 
Leipsic  Stadt  Theatre. 

It  is  a  coincidence  that  Seidl's  associate  was  Arthur  Nikisch, 

»43 


ANTON       SEIDL  —  A        MEMORIAL 


who  subsequently  did  his  share  in  the  work  of  elevating  musical 
taste  in  America. 

There  was  a  roving  vein  in  Seidl's  nature,  and  after  a  few 
years  of  routine  he  was  ready  to  travel.  It  was  then  that  Seidl 
was  asked  to  go  along  with  Angelo  Neumann,  the  manager  who 
determined  to  carry  the  banner  of  Wagner  into  the  camps  of  the 
enemy.  Seidl  accepted,  and  with  a  well-equipped  company  the 
greatest  of  all  musical  crusades  was  started.  To  all  parts  of  Ger- 
many these  missionaries  travelled,  then  to  Holland,  to  England, 
and  finally  to  Italy — the  home  of  the  antithesis  of  Wagner's 
music.     The  success  of  this  propaganda  was  enormous. 

Then  came  a  period  of  rest.  Seidl  went  to  Bremen  and 
became  the  conductor  of  the  opera  house  in  that  sober,  staid 
and  blue-lawed  old  Hanseatic  town.  There  he  married  Fraulein 
Kraus,  a  singer  of  talent,  an  artist  of  high  qualities,  a  popular 
favorite.  His  wife  did  not  remain  long  on  the  stage  after  her 
marriage,  but  devoted  herself  to  domesticity.  The  married  life 
of  the  two  beings  was  a  happy  one.  Its  felicity  was  strength- 
ened by  the  common  love  of  music.  The  brilliant  artist  be- 
came a  model  "  Hausfrau." 

It  was  in  1885  that  Seidl  came  to  America.  Since  then  his 
career  has  been  so  actively  connected  with  everything  musical 
here  that  he  has  ever  been  in  the  public  eye.  For  five  seasons 
he  was  the  arbiter  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  and  he 
made  that  temple  of  music  one  of  the  most  famous  in  the  world. 
Then  came  the  restoration  of  Italian  opera — in  1 891-1892 — 
and  Seidl  retired.  When  Messrs.  Abbey  and  Grau  determined 
to  include  German  opera  in  their  scheme  of  performances,  they 
logically  engaged  Mr.  Seidl  to  conduct  them. 

Seidl  was  an  interesting  personality.  His  physical  charac- 
teristics were  individual.      His  face  was  clean-shaven  ;  his  fea- 

144 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


tures  seemed  chiselled ;  his  hair,  long  and  glossy,  was  combed 
back  from  his  forehead  and  temples  and  fell  on  his  shoulders.  He 
bore  a  marked  facial  resemblance  to  Liszt — a  fact  which  oft  gave 
a  romantic  turn  to  the  gossip  in  certain  circles.  He  was  a  severe- 
looking  man,  stern  in  expression,  with  very  little  mobility  of 
features. 

In  public  he  was  not  genial,  not  diplomatic.  He  had  little 
care  for  the  conventions,  or  for  the  amenities  of  public  occasions. 
He  never  smiled  at  the  prima  donna  when  she  sang  an  aria  at  a 
concert  and  was  wildly  applauded.  It  might  be  Melba,  or 
Nordica,  or  Calve.  They  were  all  alike  to  him.  He  never 
shook  hands  with  a  soloist  after  a  well-executed  solo,  even  if  the 
artist  was  a  celebrity — Paderewski,  JosefFy  or  Ysaye. 

At  home,  though,  or  in  the  "  Bierstube,"  or  at  his  favorite 
cafe,  he  shed  his  reserve,  his  crust  of  indifference.  He  then  be- 
came another  man  entirely,  fond  of  humor,  interested  with  cath- 
olicity in  all  the  affairs  of  the  world,  convivial  and  contented. 
He  was  not  quick  of  speech  nor  was  he  fluent.  His  style  was 
apt  to  be  laconic,  precise,  a  little  bit  pedantic  at  times.  He 
often  said  that  he  had  been  destined  and  had  studied  for  the 
priesthood,  and  that  he  had  never  been  able  to  outlive  some 
of  the  influences  of  his  seminarist  days. 

He  was  an  ardent  Hungarian  at  heart.  He  could  be  roused 
from  his  usual  quiet  by  bringing  the  conversation  to  a  discussion 
of  his  native  country.  Then  he  would  gladly  descant  on  the 
glories  of  the  land,  the  heroism  of  the  men,  the  beauty  of 
the  women. 

He  had  become  an  American  citizen  and  his  affection  for  his 
adopted  country  was  sincere,  although  it  was  not  an  essential  in 
his  emotional  make-up.  He  believed  in  the  musical  future  of 
America.      He  was  confident  that  great  composers  in  numbers 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


would  appear.  He  favored  opera  in  English.  Six  or  seven 
years  ago  he  was  quoted  as  saying  that  "  no  satisfactory  results 
can  be  achieved  here,  nor  can  America  produce  any  national 
music  until  opera  is  given  in  English.  I  look  forward  to  the 
time  when  American  composers  shall  produce  great  operatic 
works  of  a  distinctly  original  character,  written  in  the  vernacular  ; 
but  until  that  time  comes  I  believe  that  such  foreign  works  as 
are  performed  here  should  be  translated  into  English.  The 
achievements  of  such  American  composers  as  Prof  J.  K.  Paine, 
who  has  done  admirable  work  ;  of  E.  A.  MacDowell,  whose 
compositions  seem  to  me  superior  to  those  of  Brahms  ;  of  G. 
W.  Chadwick,  Templeton  Strong  and  others,  augur  well  for  the 
future  productions  of  American  composers." 

In  a  way  Seidl  always  looked  the  German  student.  He 
was  simple  in  his  dress.  Black  broadcloth  in  the  city,  white 
linen  in  the  country.  A  soft  alpine  hat  in  informal  hours  ;  a 
silk  hat  when  ceremony  was  necessary. 

He  lived  well.  He  was  fond  of  good  food,  with  a  leaning 
for  the  cuisine  of  Germany.  The  highly-spiced  dishes  of  his 
own  country's  gastronomy  were  not  necessities  for  him.  His 
daily  life  was  methodical.  When  not  busy  at  rehearsals  or  con- 
certs, he  sat  in  his  home,  with  his  smoking-jacket  and  slippers. 
He  always  had  friends  around. 

For  many  years  he  was  forced  by  his  duties  at  the  Brighton 
Beach  concerts  to  live  at  the  seashore.  This  was  not  to  his 
liking.  He  preferred  the  mountains,  the  rarefied  air,  the  silence, 
the  broad  expanse  of  scenery.  He  had  bought  for  himself  a 
cottage  in  the  Catskills — a  lovely  place  to  rest,  known  to  his 
friends  as  "  Seidl  Berg."  He  hastened  there  whenever  he  had 
the  leisure.  In  midsummer,  if  possible  ;  if  not,  in  May  or  in 
early  autumn.     His   drawing-room  was  a  veritable  temple  of 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


music.  Over  the  piano  hung  a  portrait  of  Wagner,  and  it 
seemed  to  dominate  the  whole  apartment.  Other  masters  in 
wreath-entwined  frames,  a  bust  of  Beethoven,  precious  auto- 
graphs preserved  under  glass,  rare  scores  with  composers'  dedi- 
cations on  their  fly-leaves,  bronze  medals  commemorating  events 
in  the  history  of  music,  and  flowers  in  every  nook  and  corner, 
for  both  host  and  hostess  loved  color  and  fragrance. 

Through  the  window  the  eye  rested  on  hills  that  seemed  to 
fade  away  and  merge  in  the  distant  horizon.  From  the 
"  piazza,"  as  Seidl  called  it,  giving  the  word  its  Italian  accent, 
the  dense  woods,  the  glorious  mountains,  refreshed  and  satisfied 
every  longing  for  a  bit  of  nature. 

It  was  here  on  this  piazza,  in  indolent  ease,  that  Seidl 
passed  his  happiest  hours.  He  was  fond  of  dogs,  and  he  had 
many.  All  were  pets,  who  bore  the  names  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Nibelungen.  There  was  Mime  and  Hunding  and  Fricka,  but 
the  favorite  was  Wotan.  He  was  a  big  St.  Bernard,  with  a  soft 
coat  of  white-and-golden  fur — as  intelligent  as  the  best  of  his 
breed.  He  had  privileges  that  none  other  had.  He  was  per- 
mitted to  jump  and  place  his  forepaws  on  his  master's  shoulders 
and  caress  him  to  his  heart's  content. 

Seidl  was  not  "  a  woman's  man,"  and  yet  few  men  have 
more  completely  swayed  their  emotions.  It  was  the  musician 
who  worked  the  spell,  and  when  he  laid  down  his  baton  and  his 
music  was  hushed,  all  was  over.  No  one  made  the  phrases  of 
Wagner  so  irresistible.  The  passion  of  the  love  duet  in  Tristan 
and  Isolde,  its  expression  in  music  of  longings,  of  unsatisfied 
desires,  of  yearning  souls  and  panting  bodies  fairly  throbbed 
when  given  life  by  the  magic  of  Seidl's  interpretation.  The 
heroic  resignation  of  Brunnhilde  when  Wotan  punishes  her  sin 
with  a  sleep  that  may  be  eternal ;  the  joy  of  her  renascense  under 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


the  breath-giving  kiss  of  the  fearless  youth  ;  the  fury  when  the 
drugged  Siegfried  denies  her,  and  the  subhmity  of  her  self-immo- 
lation when  her  hero  has  passed  away — to  all  these  phases  of 
Wagner's  heroine  Seidl  gave  such  depth,  such  impressiveness, 
that  women  wept.  And  the  sweetness  of  Sieglinde,  the  fascina- 
tion which  Vanderdecken  exercises  on  simple  Senta,  the  maiden- 
hood of  Elsa  ;  and,  to  turn  to  the  heroes,  the  youthful  glory  of 
Siegfried,  the  fatefulness  of  Tristan,  the  spiritualitv  of  Lohengrin  ' 
— all,  illuminated  by  him,  touched  this  or  that  emotion  in  the 
heart  of  woman  and  chained  her  to  his  chariot. 

Seidl's  death  was  dramatic.  Friends  were  waiting  at  his  home 
— great  artists  all,  Ysaye,  Gerardy  and  Pugno — to  share  his 
good  cheer.  They  waited  in  vain,  for  at  his  favorite  nook, 
overlooking  the  bustle  of  busy  Broadway,  he  had  been  stricken. 
He  was  a  man  of  nerve  and  refused  to  give  in.  He  went  his 
way  and  Death  followed.  He  closed  his  eyes  surrounded  by 
his  associates — his  own  musicians. 

BY     AUGUST     SPANUTH 


IT  was  a  red-letter  day  in  the  history  of  music  in  America, 
that  23rd  of  November,  1885,  when  Anton  Seidl  for  the 
first  time  wielded  his  baton  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House 
in  the  City  of  New  York.  The  air  was  pregnant  with  expecta- 
tion when  his  finely-cut  head  appeared  at  the  conductor's 
stand,  and  from  the  very  moment  he  raised  his  right  arm  in 
that  graceful  and  inimitable  manner  until  the  last  note  of  the 
Lohengrin  music  had  died  away,  the  large  audience  sat  spell- 
bound. And  again  we  sat  spellbound,  but  this  time  by  grief, 
when,  at  the  same  place  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1898,  a  cata- 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


falque  had  been  erected  where  on  other  occasions  the  con- 
ductor's stand  was  situated,  and,  covered  with  flowers,  a  coflin 
was  to  be  seen  containing  all  that  was  mortal  of  Anton  Seidl. 
Death  had  come  too  sudden  and  too  soon  ;  a  light  had  been  ex- 
tinguished too  unexpectedly  to  allow  this  great  congregation  of 
mourners  to  fully  realize  the  loss  which  had  been  inflicted  upon 
all.  The  orators  delivered  what  they  had  to  say  with  a  sobbing 
breath  ;  the  musicians  played  the  funeral  music  in  a  half-hearted, 
far-away  mood ;  the  friends  of  the  dead  master  longed  in  vain 
to  give  way  to  consoling  tears  ;  but  the  general  gloom  made  the 
whole  ceremony  all  the  more  impressive. 

For  nearly  thirteen  years  Anton  Seidl  had  been  the  very 
centre  of  musical  life  in  the  great  metropolis  of  the  New  World, 
and,  while  everybody  was  more  or  less  aware  that  he  had  brought 
with  him  into  this  country  a  novel  and  loftier  spirit  of  musical 
conception,  nobody  had  thought  it  possible  that  his  mission  could 
have  been  ended  so  soon.  At  the  height  of  life  his  mental 
energy  had  shown  no  trace  of  abatement,  and  only  this  very  last 
season  he  had  given  such  proofs  of  nervous  endurance  and 
working  power  that  they  made  one  completely  overlook  the 
changes  which  his  external  appearance  had  undergone  during 
the  last  six  months.  And  even  now — after  we  have  had  sufficient 
time  to  accommodate  our  thoughts  to  the  impossibility  of  ever 
seeing  again  this  commanding  personality  leading  an  orchestra — 
we  shall  find  it  a  difficult  task  to  do  full  justice  to  the  work  he 
has  done  here,  and  to  define  the  position  he  will  hold  in  the 
musical  history  of  this  country.  One  thing,  however,  is  sure  ; 
the  remembrance  of  his  work  will  never  be  wiped  out  among  us, 
and  it  will  also  bear  fruit  in  generations  to  come. 

Anton  Seidl  came  to  us  as   the  prophet  of  a  new  art  of 
musical  interpretation,  and  therefore  his  American  career  has  not 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


been  unlike  that  of  a  conquering  hero.  His  successes  were  like 
victories — partly  over  the  conservatism,  partly  over  the  indif- 
ference of  the  musical  masses.  And  it  was  comparatively  easier 
for  him  to  stir  up  the  indifferent  ones  than  to  convince  those 
who  had  built  up  for  themselves  a  certain  taste  and  judgment 
as  to  musical  matters,  and  who  had  worshipped  as  best  they 
knew  how  at  the  altar  of  Apollo  for  many  years.  To  them  An- 
ton Seidl  would  appear  at  first  as  a  revolutionist  that  tried  to 
throw  over  the  eternal  laws  of  the  beautiful  in  art ;  that  endeav- 
ored to  smash  with  his  barbarian  emotionality  the  cast-iron 
traditions  sanctioned  by  the  very  disciples  of  the  great  classic 
masters.  And  so,  in  a  lesser  degree,  Anton  Seidl  had  to  over- 
come similar  obstacles  as  his  great  master,  Richard  Wagner,  ran 
against  when,  in  his  works,  he  defied  all  traditions.  Of  course, 
Seidl's  struggle  was  so  much  less  trying,  as  a  reproductive  artist 
is  essentially  smaller  than  a  productive  one.  And,  furthermore, 
the  American  public  was  not  wholly  unprepared  for  the  genius 
of  Wagner  at  the  time  Seidl  arrived  here,  while  the  German 
public  knew  almost  nothing  about  Wagner  and  his  style  when 
Lohengrin  was  given  the  first  performance  through  Franz  Liszt 
in  Weimar. 

The  first  impressions  Seidl  made  upon  the  New  York 
public  as  a  conductor  were  more  of  the  startling  than  of  the  con- 
vincing order.  It  did  not  take  the  larger  part  of  the  critics^and 
a  goodly  portion  of  the  general  public  very  long  to  grow  enthu- 
siastic over  his  wonderful  accomplishments  as  a  leader,  and  some 
of  them  saw  in  him  at  once  a  sort  of  demigod.  There  were 
three  factions  in  musical  New  York.  The  first  one  claimed 
Seidl's  superiority  to  all  living  conductors  and  declared  him  infal- 
lible ;  another  faction  was  ready  to  acknowledge  his  interpreta- 
tion of  Wagner's  dramatic  works  as  unparalleled,  but  denied  him 

ISO 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


that  universal  superiority  as  a  leader  ;  the  third  faction,  however, 
labored  hard  to  find  fault  with  all  his  readings  and  occasionally 
went  even  so  far  as  to  belittle  Wagner  because  Seidl  was  the 
prophet  of  the  master  of  Bayreuth.  It  is  gratifying  to  state  that 
in  the  course  of  years  the  views  of  all  of  them  have  broadened 
in  the  same  degree  as  Seidl  found  occasion  to  display  his  talents 
and  at  the  same  time  to  show  the  limits  of  his  versatility ;  and 
at  the  present  time  there  are  probably  few  that  are  still  inclined 
to  over-  or  under-rate  the  services  he  has  lent  to  the  develop- 
ment of  our  musical  life. 

As  the  sage  Solon  said,  nobody  should  be  called  happy 
before  his  death.  Whether  a  premature  and  unexpected  death 
is  to  be  considered  as  the  gift  of  a  benevolent  God  might 
remain  a  question  to  be  answered  only  by  individual  opinion. 
But  aside  from  this  Anton  Seidl's  life  can  safely  be  called  from 
nearly  every  point  of  human  view  a  happy  one.  It  is  irrelevant 
to  argue  that  still  greater  things  might  have  been  expected  from 
this  man  if  circumstances  had  been  more  favorable  and  his  life 
had  been  a  longer  one.  Fate  allowed  him  to  make  his  mark, 
and  it  is  after  all  less  lamentable  to  bury  some  unfulfilled  hopes 
with  the  deceased  than  to  see  him  die  after  all  hope  of  usefulness 
has  vanished.  The  loss  of  Anton  Seidl  was  a  great  one,  but 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  consolation  in  the  work  he  has  done 
among  us.     He  has  not  lived  in  vain. 

Anton  Seidl  was  still  more  fortunate  in  gaining  access  to 
Wahnfried  and  becoming  his  master's  personal  friend.  It  was 
a  great  time  at  Bayreuth,  those  four  years  of  preparation  for  the 
first  performances  on  the  wonderful  and  unique  stage  of  the  Fest- 
spielhaus.  It  certainly  was  a  time  full  of  excitement  and  en- 
thusiasm for  the  fight  pro  and  contra ;  the  principle  of  the  new 
music-drama  was  just  on   the  point  of  its    culmination.     No 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


wonder,  therefore,  that  the  Impressions  Seidl  received  in  those 
years  proved  to  be  enduring  with  him.  Not  only  that  he  was 
every  day  under  the  constant  influence  of  so  overpowering  a 
personality  as  Richard  Wagner ;  that  he  became  familiar  with  all 
the  details  of  the  miraculous  scores  of  the  Nibelungen ;  that 
he  gained  an  insight  of  the  mystical  manner  in  which  his  master 
formed  and  developed  the  ideas  given  him  by  divine  inspiration, 
a  process  ordinarily  termed  composing ;  he  had,  also,  an  oppor- 
tunity to  meet,  in  Wagner's  house,  scores  of  renowned  artists — 
painters,  poets,  musicians,  singers,  instrumentalists — who  all 
gathered  there  to  pay  homage  to  the  great  reformer  of  dramatic 
music. 

It  is  indeed  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  under  such  con- 
ditions, Anton  Seidl  finally  began  to  Wagnerize  all  and  every- 
thing. We  all  have  to  pay  for  it  when  we  live  too  near  the  gods. 
Even  up  to  his  very  last  appearances  in  public,  Anton  Seidl  was 
censured  by  some  critics  for  his  reading  of  classical  symphonies  ; 
and,  while  there  might  have  been  some  reason  for  it  to  a  certain 
extent,  it  cannot  detract  the  least  little  bit  from  his  reputation  as 
one  of  the  greatest  orchestral  leaders  we  have  ever  had. 

Wagner  and  Liszt  had  fairly  revolutionized  the  art  of  con- 
ducting. It  is  well  to  remember  that,  in  the  orchestra  of  former 
days,  it  was  the  leader  of  the  first  violinists  who  took  upon  him- 
self to  guide  his  fellow-musicians  safely  through  an  intricate 
rhythm,  or  some  other  difficulty  that  might  arise  in  the  score,  by 
occasionally  beating  the  time  with  his  bow.  By-and-by,  as  orches- 
tral scores  became  more  varied  and  complicated  in  rhythm  and 
otherwise,itwas  found  necessary  to  have  this  leader  do  nothing  else 
but  beat  the  time.  And  as  soon  as  beating  the  time  had  become 
his  only  occupation,  the  leader  gradually  grew  more  anxious  to 
control  not  only  the  rhythm  and  the  tempo,  but  the  light  and 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


shade  also,  and  finally  held  himself,  and  was  held  responsible, 
for  the  whole  performance.  This  was  the  first  step  to  an  eman- 
cipation of  the  rigid  rules  of  tradition,  but  it  did  not  lead  to  that 
immediately.  Up  to  the  time  of  Wagner  and  Liszt,  in  fact, 
nobody  dared  to  enter  through  the  door  that  was,  practically, 
thrown  open  to  the  development  of  individuality  in  reproductive 
art ;  and  nearly  all  that  has  been  accomplished  by  the  conductors 
of  the  elder  school  never  went  beyond  correctness,  smoothness 
and  delicacy  of  execution.  One  cannot  be  better  enlightened 
upon  this  subject  than  through  reading  Wagner's  book  "  Ueber 
das  Dirigiren." 

Wagner  taught  that  not  only  the  demands  of  post-classical 
composition  involved  a  different,  that  is,  a  more  subjective,  style 
of  interpretation  than  the  older  conductors  had  indulged  in,  but 
he  insisted  that  the  Beethoven  interpreter  also  had  to  go  to 
work  with  more  individual  freedom.  To  bring  out  the  charac- 
teristic spirit  of  a  composition  in  the  most  characteristic  way 
became  the  fundamental  principle  of  a  thoroughly  satisfying 
reproduction  in  the  modern  sense.  It  was  also  part  of  this 
demand  to  pay  the  closest  attention  to  the  smallest  details,  and 
how  much  this  had  been  neglected — even  by  the  most  con- 
scientious conductors  of  the  old  school — was  clearly  proved 
when  Hans  von  Biilow,  with  that  mediocre  and  comparatively 
small  Meiningen  orchestra,  started  on  a  musical  campaign 
through  the  principal  cities  of  Germany.  Their  success  was 
overwhelming. 

It  appears  only  natural,  under  these  altered  conditions,  that 
most  of  the  new  orchestra  leaders  were  less  good  all-around 
conductors  than  specialists,  and  Anton  Seidl  was  no  exception  to 
them.  However,  the  range  of  his  ability  was  by  no  means  so 
limited  as  some  of  his  critics  would  make  us  believe.     When 

IS3 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


he  Started,  a  very  young  man,  as  Kapellmeister  at  the  Leipsic 
Stadt-Theater,  he  felt  certainly  inclined  to  conduct  everything 
in  the  Wagnerian  mood,  no  matter  whether  an  opera  by  Mozart 
or  by  Lortzing  was  concerned.  But  his  natural  musicianship 
helped  him  greatly  to  broaden  in  his  taste,  and  whoever  has 
heard  the  French  Faust  performance  under  his  baton  at  the 
Metropolitan  Opera  House,  toward  the  close  of  the  season  '95- 
'96,  will  readily  admit  that  Seidl's  conception  showed  his  perfect 
familiarity  with  the  style  of  the  great  French  master.  It  would 
have  been  very  different  at  the  time  of  Seidl's  engagement  in 
Leipsic. 

It  did  not  take  our  public  long  to  recognize  Seidl  as  the 
coming  man.  We  had  grown  tired  of  the  old  traditional  Italian 
opera  and  the  enthusiastic  and  energetic  Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch 
had  just  succeeded  in  clearing  the  field  for  the  German,  and 
more  especially  for  the  Wagner  opera.  Henceforth  the  public 
was  not  wholly  unprepared  but  rather  willing  to  follow  the  right 
leader  into  a  new  world  of  dramatic  art.  Every  means  were  gen- 
erously furnished  to  make  the  performances  most  brilliant  and 
even  gorgeous  as  to  the  scenic  arrangements.  The  success  was 
most  gratifying  and  highly  remarkable,  and  foreigners  coming  to 
New  York  were  greatly  surprised  to  find  an  English-speaking 
audience  crowding  the  vast  Metropolitan  Opera  House  night 
after  night  and  attentively  listening  to  the  strange  and  partly 
superhuman  word  and  tone  pictures  inspired  by  the  German 
mythology.  Not  the  splendid  ensemble  of  singers  nor  the  mag- 
nificent scenic  display  could  alone  accomplish  such  a  result : 
it  was  more  than  anything  else  the  eloquent  way  in  which  the 
conductor  disclosed  the  mysteries  of  the  scores.  His  baton 
made  the  music  talk  :  the  musical  phrases  became  a  language  of 
human  feelings  and  passions  universally  understood.      His  influ- 

»S4 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ence  upon  the  musicians  in  the  orchestra  was  indescribably  mag- 
netic, and  as  to  color  and  climacteric  effects  nothing  like  them 
had  been  heard  here  before. 

And  this  was  exactly  what  we  needed  the  most.  The 
public  had  not  been  deaf  to  the  sensuous  charm  of  tone  color, 
but  it  was  accustomed  to  look  upon  the  tonal  beauty  as  a  mere 
decorative  though  very  desirable  thing.  Now  it  began  to  realize 
the  inseparability  of  sound  and  thought,  and  willingly  it  bent 
its  knees  to  the  spontaneity  of  the  genius  of  Wagner.  Other 
conductors  before  Seidl  had  given  us  very  acceptable  renderings 
of  some  of  Wagner's  works,  but  now  one  became  aware  that  in 
spite  of  their  artistic  qualities  something  had  been  missing. 

Though  our  progress  in  music  had  been  rapid  we  were 
deficient  in  the  appreciation  of  the  emotional  elements  of  tonal 
art.  In  his  habit  of  approaching  everything  at  first  with  his 
brain  and  never  allowing  his  feelings  to  get  the  better  of  his  judg- 
ment our  level-headed  American  had  long  made  a  scientific 
study  of  music.  There  is  hardly  a  city  of  100,000  and  more 
inhabitants  even  in  the  far  West  where  not  at  least  half  a  dozen 
baccalaureates  and  doctors  of  music  dwell  and  flourish  And  as 
to  the  technical  details  of  execution  in  all  the  different  musical 
branches,  there  can  hardly  be  found  a  race  more  fit  to  master 
them  than  the  American.  Knowledge  and  execution,  however, 
do  not  offer  everything  necessary  to  become  a  real  musical  being, 
and  if  truth  goes  before  politeness  one  should  not  hesitate  to  state 
that  so  far  the  American  people  have  generally  been  found  want- 
ing in  those  emotional  qualities  which  are  the  genuine  sources  of 
artistic  fancy.  It  is  from  this  point  of  view  that  the  work  Seidl 
has  been  doing  here  should  bejudged.  He  was  able  to  arouse 
enthusiasm  even  among  those  who  were  not  particularly  musical, 
for  he  appealed  to  them  through  his  tremendous  temperament. 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Human  nature  is  always  touched  most  vigorously  by  the  dis- 
play of  those  qualities  in  which  it  is  lacking  itself. 

It  was  under  Seidl's  direction  that  works  like  Die  Meister- 
singer,  Tristan  and  Isolde,  Siegfried,  Gotterdammerung  and  Das 
Rheingold  were  introduced  to  the  American  public,  and  it  is  to 
his  credit  that  those  stupendous  works,  so  novel  and  so  extraor- 
dinary in  every  way,  gained  almost  instant  success  in  the  metrop- 
olis. Even  in  Germany  it  had  taken  years  before  the  country- 
men of  Wagner  were  ready  and  able  to  fully  appreciate  the 
intrinsic  grandeur  of  these  dramas,  while  the  fickle  and  blase 
audience  of  our  Metropolitan  Opera  House  was  conquered  in  a 
comparatively  short  space  of  time.  All  the  lectures  on  Wag- 
nerian subjects,  all  the  explanatory  programmes  and  the  musical 
guides  could  not  have  brought  about  this  result.  Anton  Seidl, 
with  his  keen  and  energetic  beat  and  with  his  tremendous  temper- 
ament, did  it. 

In  spite  of  its  indisputable  success,  however,  German  opera 
went  out  of  existence  in  New  York  after  Seidl  had  carried  it 
from  victory  to  victory  during  six  years.  The  remaining  seven 
years  of  his  life  he  devoted  mainly  to  concert  work. 

Symphonies  that  did  not  appeal  to  his  artistic  temperament 
were  naturally  treated  by  him  with  less  care  and  enthusiasm  than 
others  ;  it  is,  however,  very  fortunate  that  it  was  the  most  impor- 
tant works  of  modern  composers  that  were  benefited  by  his 
efforts.  In  the  Philharmonic  concerts,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the 
Brooklyn  Seidl  Society,  he  achieved  great  results  with  the  inter- 
pretation of  Liszt's,  Berlioz's,  Tschaikowsky's,  and  other  modern 
composers'  creations.  And  who  will  ever  forget  his  conducting 
of  Liszt's  Faust,  Dvorak's  New  World,  and  Tschaikowsky's 
Pathetic  Symphonies  ? 

Furthermore  a  vast  amount  of  reformatory  work  was  done 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


by  him  in  the  numerous  Sunday  concerts  and  in  the  popu- 
lar summer  concerts  at  Brighton  Beach.  The  programmes  of 
the  latter  were  unequaled  here  or  abroad  as  to  their  rich- 
ness and  variety.  If  the  best  modern  orchestral  music  has 
become  popular  here  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Seidl  has  done  more 
than  any  other  conductor  to  make  it  so. 

Anton  Seidl  did  not  live  among  us  as  a  stranger.  Unlike 
most  European  artists  that  come  to  visit  us  he  did  not  try  to  make 
as  much  money  as  possible  in  as  short  a  time  as  possible  and 
then  go  back  to  Europe  and  enjoy  his  riches  there.  No,  he  went 
through  the  necessary  process  of  acclimatization  rather  quickly 
and  became  a  real  American  in  thought  and  life.  Even  adverse 
circumstances  here  and  flattering  offers  from  the  other  side  could 
not  induce  him  to  give  up  his  work  here.  He  believed 
strongly  in  the  musical  future  of  this  country  and  he  did 
whatever  he  could  to  encourage  young  American  composers  in 
their  sincere  endeavors.  The  money-makers  among  them,  how- 
ever, could  not  rely  upon  his  support.  The  American  composi- 
tions Seidl  performed  during  the  thirteen  years  of  his  work  would 
make  a  long  list.  But  he  was  not  always  influential  enough  to 
have  his  own  way,  and  during  his  last  season  the  Philharmonic 
Society  stubbornly  refused  to  put  Harry  Roe  Shelley's  Second 
Symphony  on  its  programme  although  Seidl  recommended  it 
highly. 

Even  if  Seidl's  work  had  been  confined  to  the  city  of 
New  York  his  influence  would  have  been  felt  all  over  the  United 
States,  but  many  excursions  with  his  orchestra,  with  vocal  and 
instrumental  soloists  and  with  the  Metropolitan  Opera  company 
brought  him  into  direct  contact  with  the  western  world.  So 
New  York  did  not  grieve  alone  over  the  loss  of  this  great  and 
unique  conductor.     He  made  thousands  of  friends  and  admirers 

IS7 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


and  the  few  he  left  unconquered  were  powerless  ;  they  could  not 
interfere  with  the  formidable  influence  he  exercised  on  the  music 
of  this  country.  And  history  will  be  just  to  him.  It  will  not 
overlook  his  shortcomings,  which  were  few,  and  it  will  not  be- 
little his  merits,  which  were  wonderful  and  numerous. 

BY     CHARLES     D.     LANIER 


THIS  writer  believes,  with  thousands  of  others,  that  Anton 
Seidl  was  the  greatest  interpreter  of  music  that  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  produced.  It  is  more  generally  admitted  that 
he  was  the  first  of  Wagnerian  conductors  and  that  he,  more  than 
any  other,  gave  America  what  it  has  of  the  noblest  music.  This 
he  did  with  no  fury  of  argument,  with  no  skill  in  business  organ- 
ization, but  merely  by  virtue  of  his  genius  in  compelling,  inspir- 
ing, the  sincerest  efforts  of  the  musicians  beneath  his  baton. 
The  hearts  of  the  multitude  were  moved  ;  they  saw  and  felt  what 
Wagner,  what  Beethoven,  saw  and  felt. 

The  few  who  had  appreciated  Wagner's  greatness  found 
him  vastly  greater  than  they  had  ever  before  suspected  ;  and 
with  this  noble,  contained  figure  leading  and  inspiring  the  or- 
chestra to  the  very  heights  of  passion  and  tenderness,  of  love 
and  despair,  real  music  found  its  way  to  the  hearts  of  thousands 
whom  the  works  of  Beethoven  and  Mozart,  great  as  they  were, 
had  failed  to  move.  When  the  emotional  side  of  his  audience 
had  been  once  stirred,  the  fine  poetic  figure  of  Anton  Seidl 
added  to  the  charm.  Not  tall,  but  of  commanding  presence, 
with  masterly,  sure  gestures,  most  noble  in  their  simplicity  and 
reserve  ;  his  strongly  chiseled  features  firm  set  in  grave  beauty  ; 
a  magnificent  mane  of  silky  hair  like  that  of  Liszt — his  face  and 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


form  were  in  such  rare  keeping  with  the  music  of  the  gods  that 
the  appeal  of  his  reserve  was  more  powerful  than  any  effect  at- 
tained by  those  conductors  who  are  intoxicated  into  a  fury  of 
gesture.  To  have  heard  his  orchestra  in  the  Vorspiel  of  Tristan 
is  to  have  at  hand  for  one's  lifetime  a  world  of  poetry  to  which 
the  gate  is  opened  at  the  thought  of  Seidl's  uplifted  hand  and 
brow.  It  is  strange  enough  to  observe  the  variety  of  minds  who 
were  captivated  by  him.  The  most  cynical  of  men,  to  whom 
music,  before  they  knew  Seidl,  meant  merely  a  plaything  for 
women  and  womanish  men,  repaired  night  after  night  to  the 
Metropolitan  and  spent  ecstatic  hours.  He  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  worshipped  of  women,  notwithstanding  his  exceeding  re- 
serve ;  the  most  sentimental  school-girl  and  the  largest  and 
finest  mind  alike  accepted  him  as  a  hero,  because  he  appealed 
to  the  truth  in  both  of  them.  The  musicians,  too,  adored  him. 
He  was  modest  and,  in  his  quiet,  unprotesting  way,  most  kindly. 
He  seemed  undeniably  one  of  the  elder  men,  one  who  could 
"  speak  and  be  silent."  His  worth  was  best  recognized  by  the 
very  greatest  of  his  peers,  Wagner,  Liszt,  and  Richter,  and  de 
Reszke,  Lehmann  and  Alvary.  De  Reszke  refused  to  sing 
Tristan  unless  Seidl  was  the  conductor. 

Aside  from  his  activities  as  leader  of  the  Philharmonic 
Seidl  conducted  a  regular  series  of  concerts  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  Seidl  Society  of  Brooklyn,  and  of  an  evening  in  the 
hot  season  led  his  musicians  in  a  large  pavilion  at  Brighton 
Beach,  where  the  thunder  of  the  Valkyrie  and  of  Walhalla  was 
mingled  with  the  roar  of  the  waves  which  dashed  against  the 
walls  of  the  concert  hall.  His  earnings  from  these  many  engage- 
ments were  not  large.  The  perfect  outlines  of  a  perfect  artist's 
life  were  not  broken  in  Seidl's  career  by  the  cares  of  building  up 
a  fortune.      Indeed,   he  would  scarcely  have   made  a   "  business 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


success  ;  "  it  is  said  that  more  than  once   he  returned  his  check 
to  a  manager  who  had  not  realized  a  fair  profit. 

The  total  effect  of  Seidl's  work  in  America  was  to  arouse 
here  such  an  enthusiasm  for  dramatic  music  as  was  utterly 
unknown  before  him.  He  became  the  hero  of  the  music- 
loving  people  of  the  country.  The  inspiration  he  gave  was  not 
at  all  confined  to  New  York  City  and  Brooklyn,  for  it  became 
the  fashion  for  persons  of  musical  tastes  in  the  West  and  South 
to  come  to  New  York  or  Chicago  for  the  opera  season.  People 
of  all  classes  in  the  country  seized  on  any  holiday  or  other 
opportunity  to  come  to  the  city  during  the  opera  and  concert 
season,  and  carried  back  to  their  homes  an  enduring  recollection 
of  the  great  orchestral  leader  and  a  new  capacity  for  the  high- 
est enjoyment  of  music. 

BY     HENRY     T.     FINCK 


THE   SECRET   OF   SEIDL  S   SUCCESS 

TWENTY  thousand  persons,  it  is  said,  attended  the  funeral 
of  Beethoven.  Wagner,  Brahms  and  other  modern  com- 
posers had  great  honors  paid  to  them  when  they  lay  in  their 
coffins  ;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  any  musician  who  was  not  a  creator 
of  new  works,  but  simply  an  interpreter,  ever  was  so  imposingly 
honored  in  his  death  as  Anton  Seidl.  For  nearly  a  week  every 
metropolitan  journal  devoted  a  column  a  day,  and,  on  the  Sun- 
day following  his  death,  a  whole  page  to  the  great  conductor  and 
his  sudden  death.  More  than  ten  thousand  applications  were 
made  for  tickets  to  the  memorial  services  at  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House,  though  only  four  thousand  had  room  in  it ;  and 
while  the  services  were  in  progress  Broadway,  for  half  a  dozen 

1 60 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


blocks  or  more,  was  one  surging  mass  of  people.  No  statesman 
or  general  could  have  been  more  lamented,  no  poet  or  philan- 
thropist more  wept  over,  than  was  Anton  Seidl.  "  His  funeral 
was  more  impressive  than  any  music  drama  I  ever  saw  or  heard 
at  Bayreuth,"  wrote  my  friend,  James  Huneker ;  and  that  was 
my  feeling  too.  I  have  never  seen  so  many  men  and  women 
weep  in  public  as  on  this  occasion,  when  Tschaikowsky's  Adagio 
Lamentoso  and  Siegfried's  Death  from  Die  Gotterddmmerung 
were  played,  and  all  eyes  were  riveted  on  the  flower-decked 
coffin. 

Why  did  Anton  Seidl's  death  thus  stir  the  musical  multi- 
tude ?  Why  did  so  many  weep  over  him  ?  For  a  man  of  his 
eminence  he  had  not  many  personal  friends.  He  was  not  affa- 
ble, he  shunned  society,  he  was  taciturn  and  shy  in  the  presence 
of  all  but  his  most  intimate  friends.  The  great  public  knew  his 
personality  only  through  his  art,  but  through  that  art  they  knew 
that  it  was  a  great  personality.  As  an  interpreter  he  always  laid 
bare  the  heart  of  an  art-work,  and  he  always  reached  the  heart  ot 
the  hearers.  Not  many  weeks  before  he  died,  at  an  Astoria 
concert,  he  played  the  same  Adagio  Lamentoso  that  was  selected 
for  his  funeral,  and  played  it  with  such  heartrending  pathos  that 
half  the  audience  was  in  tears.  I  mentioned  this  fact  to  an  ac- 
quaintance who  rarely  goes  to  a  concert.  He  smiled  incredu- 
lously and  said  he  did  not  believe  that  anyone  ever  wept  at  a 
concert.  His  curiosity,  however,  was  aroused,  and  he  secured 
seats  for  the  next  Seidl  concert.  I  did  not  see  him,  but  he 
frankly  confessed  afterwards  that  while  Mr.  Seidl  was  conducting 
the  slow  movement  of  Dvorak's  New  World  Symphony  his 
companion  wiped  away  her  tears,  and  that  his  own  eyes  had  a 
film  over  them.  Several  members  of  the  orchestra  have  told 
me  that  on  such  occasions   Mr.   Seidl   himself  used  to  be  so 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


deeply  affected  that  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  The  usual 
expression  on  his  face  during  a  performance  was  what  Colonel 
Ingersoll  has  finely  called  "  impassioned  serenit\'." 

Czerny  wrote  concerning  Beethoven's  playing  that  "  fre- 
quently not  an  eye  remained  dry,  while  many  would  break  out 
into  loud  sobs ;  for  there  was  something  wonderful  in  his  ex- 
pression." Anton  Seidl  had  this  gift  of  expression,  this  power 
of  evoking  tears,  which  usually  belongs  only  to  creative  geniuses  ; 
and  therein  lay  the  secret  of  his  popularity.  He  had  his  dry 
half-hours  as  a  matter  of  course.  An  antiquated  work  like 
some  of  Mozart's  symphonies,  or  the  first  two  of  Beethoven's, 
did  not  arouse  his  sympathy,  wherefore  his  performance  of  it  left 
the  audience  cold ;  but  if  he  had  before  him  music  that  stirred 
him,  he  always  stirred  the  audience  with  it.  I  have  heard  nearly 
all  the  great  conductors  of  our  time  perform  Beethoven's  sym- 
phonies, but  I  have  never  heard  the  seventh  and  the  ninth 
played  with  such  marvelous  clearness  of  detail,  such  depth  and 
variety  of  expression,  as  under  his  baton.  The  third  Leonore 
overture  was  another  of  his  Beethoven  specialties.  He  made  of 
it  what  Wagner  called  it — a  drama  complete  in  itself;  and  I 
have  heard  him  conduct  it  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House 
with  such  fire  and  dramatic  passion  that  even  the  box-holders, 
who  seldom  paid  any  attention  to  the  orchestra,  burst  out 
into  prolonged  applause. 

Among  the  tributes  telegraphed  from  abroad  none  was  more 
significant  than  that  of  Jean  de  Reszke,  which  spoke  of  Anton 
Seidl  as  "  the  greatest  of  all  Wagner  conductors  " — doubly  sig- 
nificant because  that  great  tenor  had  just  been  singing  Wagner 
under  Hans  Richter  at  St.  Petersburg.  It  was  owing  to  this 
same  tenor — the  greatest  of  our  time — that  Anton  Seidl  was  re- 
stored to   the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  after  the  temporary 

i6z 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


eclipse  of  Wagner.  He  made  this  restoration  a  condition  of  his 
appearing  in  certain  roles.  He  studied  these  roles  with  Seidl, 
just  as  Niemann,  the  greatest  dramatic  tenor  of  his  time,  studied 
them  with  him  when  he  came  to  America.  He  had  had  a  much 
longer  experience  with  some  of  these  roles  than  his  conductor 
had,  but  he  felt  that  Seidl  had  a  knowledge  of  the  scores  which 
he  could  have  obtained  only  at  first  hand  from  the  composer. 

Wagner  himself,  as  we  have  seen,  commended  Anton  Seidl 
for  having  learned  preeminently  to  conduct  the  orchestra  with 
special  reference  not  only  to  the  singers,  but  to  every  minute 
detail  of  the  action  and  mise-en-scene.  Nothing  escaped  his  eye ; 
he  took  half  the  responsibility  off  the  shoulders  of  the  singers, 
enabling  them  to  feel  at  ease  in  the  most  difficult  places.  Both 
Niemann  and  Jean  de  Reszke  told  me  in  succession  two  things 
about  Seidl  almost  in  the  same  words.  "  When  I  am  in  the 
least  doubt  about  a  bar  I  look  at  Seidl ;  he  always  sees  me  and 
the  word  I  want  is  on  his  lips."  "  In  the  third  act  of  Tristan  I 
have  sometimes  almost  forgotten  to  sing  on,  so  absorbed  was 
I  by  Mr.  Seidl's  wonderful  orchestral  eloquence."  Lilli  Leh- 
mann,  Marianne  Brandt,  Mme.  Nordicaand  many  other  eminent 
dramatic  singers  always  spoke  of  Seidl  as  their  favorite  con- 
ductor. 

As  a  climax  builder  Anton  Seidl  has  probably  never  had  an 
equal.  He  knew  how  to  thrill  even  those  who  did  not  under- 
stand the  music  in  its  harmonic  details.  Col.  Robert  Ingersoll's 
great  admiration  of  Seidl  was  chiefly  based  on  this  dynamic  fac- 
ulty. He  has  told  me  himself  more  than  once  that  he  is  not 
able  to  follow  the  intricacies  of  a  Wagnerian  score,  yet  he  never 
missed  a  chance  to  hear  a  Wagner  opera  under  Seidl,  whose 
dynamic  eloquence  and  art  of  climaxing  stirred  every  fibre  of  his 
soul.     Anton  Seidl  never  made  a  speech  in  his  life,  yet  he  had 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  oratorical  faculty  of  Robert  IngersoU,  who,  indeed,  at  a 
Lotos  Club  dinner  once  referred  to  him  as  "  a  great  orator." 
No  one  who  has  ever  heard  him  build  up  the  climax  in  the 
finales  of  Lohengrin  (acts  first  and  second),  or  the  love  duo  in 
Tristan,  or  Siegfried's  departure  from  Brvinnhilde  in  the  second 
Vorspiel  of  Die  Gdtterddmmerung,  or  the  finale  of  that  drama,  can 
ever  hope  to  hear  anything  like  it  again.  Yet,  dearly  as  Seidl 
loved  a  climax,  he  was  equally  admirable  in  pathetic  music — like 
Briinnhilde's  pleading  in  the  last  act  of  Die  WalkUre — or  serene 
music  like  the  forest  scene  in  Siegfried.  He  had  indeed  a  special 
liking  for  delicate,  dainty  music,  and  when  he  was  able  to  have 
sufficient  rehearsals,  nothing  could  have  been  finer  than  his 
performances  of  modern  French  music.  But  he  was  a  Hun- 
garian, and  what  appealed  to  him  particularly  was  passion,  im- 
petuosity, lawless  irregularity  of  tempo,  such  as  prevails  in  Liszt's 
music.  With  him  died  the  greatest  of  Liszt  interpreters  ;  and 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  this  same  Hungarian  instinct 
for  change  of  pace,  in  accordance  with  the  emotional  character 
of  the  music,  helped  to  make  him  the  greatest  of  Wagnerian 
conductors,  for  modification  of  tempo  is  the  soul  of  Wagnerian 
interpretation. 

Anton  Seidl  understood  the  remarkably  rare  art  of  pausing 
at  the  proper  place — an  art  with  which  he  produced  some  of  his 
superb  oratorical  effects.  He  had  no  use  for  a  metronome. 
His  sense  of  tempo — in  music  that  he  cared  for — was  almost 
infallible.  It  is  well  known  that  Dvorak  had  the  slow  movement 
of  the  New  World  Symphony  marked  andante  in  the  manu- 
script, but  changed  it  to  largo  when  he  heard  Seidl,  led  by  a  cor- 
rect instinct,  conduct  it  in  that  tempo  at  a  rehearsal.  A  greater 
compliment  has  never  been  paid  to  any  interpreter. 

One  of  the  current  errors  which  Anton  Seidl  swept  awa) 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


for  all  time  was  the  notion  that  Wagner's  orchestration  is  too 
heavy  and  drowns  the  singers.  One  of  Wagner's  favorite  re- 
marks at  the  Bayreuth  festivals  was  that  "  the  orchestra 
should  always  bear  the  singer  as  the  agitated  sea  bears  a  boat, 
but  without  ever  putting  it  in  danger  of  capsizing  or  sinking." 
That  was  the  way  Anton  Seidl  treated  his  orchestra.  It  never 
swallowed  up  the  singer's  boat,  but  now  lifted  it  up  high  on  the 
waves  of  sound,  and  again  merely  lapped  the  boat  with  gentle 
ripples.  That  was  another  reason  why  the  singers  loved  him, 
and  were  so  eager  to  have  him  share  the  honors  of  the  applause. 
Time  and  again  the  de  Reszkes  and  other  great  singers  hurried 
behind  the  scenes  to  search  for  the  great  conductor  and  drag 
him  on  the  stage  as  if  to  say,  "  We  could  not  have  done  half  so 
well  had  it  not  been  for  him."  But  the  audience  did  not  need 
to  be  told  that.  It  often  continued  applauding  until  Seidl,  too, 
had  come  on  the  stage  ;  and  when  he  appeared  at  his  stand  he 
was  always  greeted  with  several  rounds  of  applause. 

Singers  do  not  like,  any  more  than  audiences,  to  have 
operas  last  too  long.  Anton  Seidl  had  a  remarkable  faculty  of 
shortening  Wagner's  operas,  not  by  the  reprehensible  process  of 
making  cuts  (though  he  adopted  such  as  seemed  necessary),  but 
by  making  the  music  compact,  and  by  accelerating  the  move- 
ment in  proper  places.  He  conducted  with  animation  instead 
of  with  animosity,  like  some  of  his  Italian  predecessors  in  Maple- 
son's  days.  Lohengrin,  which  others  either  mutilated  mercilessly 
or  prolonged  to  four  hours  and  a  half,  he  conducted  in  three  hours 
and  a  half.  Yet  he  never  unduly  hurried  the  tempi  ;  he  simply 
whipped  up  his  team  in  the  proper  places,  thus  gaining  time  to 
dwell  broadly  and  lovingly  on  the  slow,  stately  or  tender  parts. 
Siegfried  he  often  conducted  in  three  hours  and  forty  minutes, 
without  sacrificing  essential  parts  to  the  blue  pencil. 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Of  the  Wagnerian  "  rubato,"  or  frequent  modification  of 
tempo,  Anton  Seidl  was  a  consummate  master.  To  it  he  owed 
much  of  his  emotional  sway  over  his  audiences.  It  might  be 
said  that  he  applied  to  the  Wagner  operas  the  spirit  of  Gipsy 
music,  so  far  as  emotional  abandon  and  freedom  from  artificial 
metronomic  fetters  are  concerned ;  and  it  was  by  this  same 
method  that  he  achieved  such  wonderful  results  with  Liszt's 
music.  How  important  is  this  principle  of  incessant  modifica- 
tion of  tempo  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  when  Richard 
Wagner  personally  conducted  the  first  performance  ever  given 
in  Leipsic  of  his  new  Meistersinger  Prelude,  the  audience,  which 
had  not  come  in  a  friendly  spirit  (it  had  not  even  greeted  him 
when  he  stepped  on  the  stage  !)  absolutely  insisted  on  a  repeti- 
tion of  it,  whereas  some  time  later  when  a  conductor  of  the  old 
school  repeated  this  overture,  with  the  same  orchestra,  but  in  a 
metronomic  tempo,  it  was  hissed.  Apply  this  to  a  whole  opera, 
and  you  will  see  of  what  importance  it  was  to  the  Wagnerian 
cause  in  America  to  have  such  a  master  of  the  dramatic  rubato 
as  Seidl. 

Another  secret  of  his  success  lay  in  his  ability  to  bring  out 
the  various  themes  or  melodies  in  the  complicated  web  of  orches- 
tral scores  with  what  might  be  called  stereoscopic  clearness  and 
vividness.  Nothing  was  ever  blurred,  every  detail  had  its  due 
importance.  Of  his  unequaled  art  of  climax-building  I  have 
already  spoken.  And  what  a  keen  ear  he  had  for  tone-coloring  ! 
I  pity  every  reader  of  these  pages  who  never  had  a  chance  to 
hear  him  conduct  the  Siegfried  Idyl.  It  is  a  composition  which, 
carelessly  played,  can  be  made  positively  monotonous.  Mr.  Seidl 
made  it  a  perfect  kaleidoscope  of  colors,  though  it  is  written  only 
for  strings,  woodwind  and  horn,  and  he  dwelt  on  its  delightful 
miniature  work  with  the  joy  of  a  Japanese  artist  over  his  cloisonne. 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


It  was  a  combination  of  all  these  qualities  that  made  him 
the  ideal  Wagner  conductor  and  that  enabled  Niemann  to 
express  his  surprise  at  the  enthusiastic  reception  of  Tristan  and 
other  Wagner  operas  in  New  York.  I  have  before  me  several 
letters  dated  June,  1883,  written  in  Vienna,  to  urge  Mr.  Seidl 
to  give  another  Wagner  concert.  One  of  them,  written  "  in  the 
name  of  a  great  number  of  Seidl  admirers,"  begs  him,  above  all 
things,  to  conduct  once  more  the  Meistersinger  Prelude  and  the 
Prelude  and  Finale  of  'Tristan  because  "  these  pieces  can  be 
heard  to  perfection  only  whenjyo«  and  your  musicians  give  them." 
The  last  time  he  conducted  those  Tristan  numbers  was  at  the 
fifth  Philharmonic  concert  in  New  York.  I  cannot  refrain  from 
quoting  what  I  wrote  at  that  time  : 

"  For  the  close  Mr.  Seidl  had  reserved  one  of  those  exhibi- 
tions of  interpretative  genius  with  which,  like  Paderewski,  he 
loves  to  amaze  even  his  most  enthusiastic  admirers.  Tristan  and 
Isolde  is  one  of  his  specialties  in  which  no  living  conductor 
equals  him,  but  even  he  never  conducted  the  Introduction  and 
Finale  as  he  did  yesterday.  What  is  the  witchery  which  enables 
a  great  conductor  to  make  loi  orchestral  musicians  play  as  if 
each  were  a  consummate  artist  and  world-famed  soloist  ?  What- 
ever it  may  be — and  it  is  as  great  a  mystery  as  all  manifestations 
of  genius — Mr.  Seidl  has  it,  and  he  never  revealed  this  gift  more 
thrillingly  than  yesterday.  There  was  a  glow  of  passion,  an 
uplifting  of  feeling,  an  ecstasy  of  emotion,  a  richness  of  color,  a 
gradual  approach  to,  and  final  consummation  of,  the  climax  that 
were  simply  overwhelming.  For  a  person  with  heart  disease  it 
would  be  dangerous  to  hear  such  a  performance.  During  the 
protracted  pause  between  the  two  parts  there  was  a  stillness  in 
the  house  so  remarkable  that  it  seemed  as  it  everybody  had 
stopped  breathing.  It  was  like  the  absolute  silence  on  top  of 
a  great  mountain,  and  as  a  token  of  pleasure  it  was  infinitely 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


more  eloquent  than  the  outburst  of  applause  at  the  end." 
New  Yorkers  who  became  familiar  with  Wagner's  operas 
through  the  interpretations  of  the  late  Anton  Seidl,  and  afterwards 
heard  Hans  Richter  in  the  same  operas  in  Vienna  or  Bayreuth, 
were  always  struck  by  the  remarkable  resemblance  in  their  ver- 
sions. This  was  not  a  mere  coincidence  :  Seidl  was  a  pupil  of 
Richter,  and  both  were  pupils  of  Wagner,  who  handed  down 
through  them  the  correct  traditions.  The  main  difference 
between  these  conductors  lay  in  this,  that  Seidl,  the  younger 
of  the  two,  was  more  passionate,  more  emotional.  He  was, 
perhaps,  the  most  emotional  conductor  that  ever  lived,  especially 
in  the  dramatic  sphere.  Music  appealed  to  him  in  proportion 
as  it  appealed  to  the  feelings.  He  was  sometimes  criticised 
for  infusing  dramatic  feeling  into  symphonies  which  had  no  picto- 
rial programme  attached  to  them,  but  in  doing  this  he  merely 
followed  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  the  musical  public  was  in 
thorough  sympathy  with  him. 

At  the  end  of  his  splendid  essay  "  On  Conducting"  (re- 
printed in  this  volume)  Mr.  Seidl  says :  "  One  must  have  heard 
a  Beethoven  symphony  as  interpreted  by  Wagner  to  learn  how 
much  there  is  hidden  away  among  the  notes  of  that  classic  giant, 
and  how  much  can  be  conjured  out  of  them."  He  himself  gave 
Americans  many  glimpses  of  these  unrevealed  secrets.  In  my 
account  of  the  first  Wagner-Beethoven  concert  he  conducted  in 
New  York — for  the  benefit  of  the  Bayreuth  Festival  Fund — 
I  find  it  recorded  that  "  not  only  was  Mr.  Seidl  called  back 
several  times  whenever  he  left  the  stage,  but  he  had  to  bow  his 
thanks  repeatedly  after  every  movement  of  the  '  Eroica '  sym- 
phony ;  and  after  the  great  'Leonore '  overture  the  applause  was 
overwhelming.  Indeed,  it  seemed  even  more  enthusiastic  after 
the  Beethoven  than  after  the  Wagner  numbers." 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Why  was  he  so  warmly  applauded  ? 

It  is  well  known  that  Beethoven,  like  Wagner  after  him, 
found  the  metronome  a  useless  encumbrance.  He  twice  pro- 
vided his  Ninth  Symphony  with  metronome  marks,  but  quite 
differently  in  the  two  cases.  When  his  attention  was  called  to 
this  inconsistency  he  exclaimed  :  "  No  metronome  !  A  man  who 
has  the  right  feeling  does  not  need  it,  the  man  who  has  not 
finds  it  useless  ;  he  and  the  whole  orchestra  run  away  from  it." 
There  is  also  abundant  testimony  that  Beethoven  approved  of 
frequent  modification  of  tempo.  Seyfried  wrote  that  "  he 
was  most  particular  about  expression,  the  small  nuances,  the 
numerous  alternations  of  light  and  shade,  and  the  frequent  pas- 
sages in  tempo  rubato."  And  Schindler  said  :  "  What  I  heard 
Beethoven  play  was,  with  few  exceptions,  free  from  all  restraint  in 
tempo;  it  was  a  tempo  rubato  in  the  most  proper  sense  of  the  word, 
as  conditioned  by  context  and  situation."  For  a  long  time,  how- 
ever, Beethoven  was  played  in  a  monotonous,  metronomic  manner 
until  this  method  became  accepted  as  the  correct  "  tradition." 
Wagner  knocked  that  notion  in  the  head  with  a  sledge-hammer, 
and  his  pupils,  including  Anton  Seidl,  followed  his  example. 
Therein  lay  the  secret  of  his  success  as  a  Beethoven  conductor. 

When  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Theodore  Thomas  was 
going  to  Chicago,  Mr.  Seidl's  name  was  naturallv  suggested  first 
as  that  of  the  best  available  successor  as  conductor  of  the  Phil- 
harmonic Orchestra.  A  few  of  its  members  at  first  opposed 
him  from  fear  that  he  might  "  Wagnerize  "  all  the  music  ;  but 
they  were  voted  down  and  the  election  was  made  unanimous. 
Mr.  Seidl  soon  showed  that  he  respected  all  the  great  masters 
and  their  way,  but  at  the  same  time  he  made  it  clear  that  the 
process  of  "  Wagnerizing  "  any  symphony  consists  in  eliminating, 
as    far    as    possible,    the    consciousness    that    the    symphony   is 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


descended  from  dance  music,  and  in  substituting  a  poetic  mode  of 
interpretation,  which  recognizes  the  fact  that  strictly  metronomic 
conducting  is  as  inartistic  as  it  would  be  for  an  actor  to  read  all 
the  lines  of  a  Shakespeare  monologue  in  exactly  the  same  time. 
When  Wagner  conducted  Weber's  Freischiitz  overture  in  Dresden, 
the  critics  accused  him  of  "  Wagnerizing "  that;  but  the  testi- 
mony of  the  older  members  of  the  orchestra,  and  of  Weber's 
widow,  was  that  "  that  was  the  way  Weber  used  to  play  it." 

With  the  first  two  of  Beethoven's  symphonies,  as  I  have 
said  before,  Mr.  Seidl  was  not  specially  in  sympathy.  They  are 
doubtless  antiquated,  and  he  probably  felt  like  Wagner,  who  ex- 
claimed, "  Compare  the  Eighth  symphony  with  the  Second  and 
you  will  be  astounded  at  the  entirely  new  world  which  faces  us 
in  the  later  work."  Yet  I  have  heard  him  conduct  the  Second  in 
the  serene,  unruffled  "  classical  "  spirit  that  becomes  it.  In  his 
interpretation  of  the  Eroica  the  funeral  march  was  the  most 
effective  part.  In  the  Sixth,  or  Pastoral,  he  revealed  the  fact  that 
the  storm  is  not  so  primitive,  compared  with  Wagner's  and  Rubin- 
stein's storm  music,  as  many  had  fancied.  He  made  it  surprisingly 
tempestuous  and  stirring.  The  Seventh  he  played  in  a  way  to 
almost  convince  a  Wagnerite  that  Beethoven  was  as  great  a  master 
of  orchestration  as  Wagner  himself,  and  he  brought  out  its  "  deli- 
rium of  joy  "  in  the  last  movement  in  a  way  to  stir  the  pulse  of 
the  most  phlegmatic  listeners.  As  for  the  Eighth,  I  care  not 
whether  Mr.  Seidl  was  right  in  following  Wagner's  suggestions 
as  to  tempi  or  not.  Coming  between  two  such  giants  as  the 
Seventh  and  the  Ninth,  it  seems  to  me  a  comparatively  weak  work, 
hardly  worth  all  the  angry  discussion  it  has  given  rise  to  in  New 
York  and  elsewhere.  Of  the  Ninth  I  need  not  speak  again. 
In  that  Mr.  Seidl  was  acknowledged  even  by  his  detractors  to  be 
as  great  as  in  Tristan  or  Siegfried.     In  this  symphony  Beethoven 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


belongs  more  than  half  to  the  romantic  school  and  few  would  be 
so  obtuse  as  to  deny  that  to  it,  at  any  rate,  we  must  apply  Wag- 
ner's maxim  which  might  be  summed  up  in  these  words  :  "  The 
fact  that  a  piece  is  marked  allegro  at  the  beginning  does  not 
mean  that  it  must  be  played  allegro  throughout,  but  if  a  few  bars 
occur  of  a  pathetic,  adagio-like  character,  the  tempo  must  be  re- 
tarded momentarily — as  an  actor  or  orator  retards  his  speech  if 
the  words  suggest  a  modification  of  the  dominant  emotion." 

One  of  Mr.  Seidl's  Wagnerian  readings  of  Beethoven 
startled  even  his  warmest  champions,  though  they  could  not  help 
being  stirred  by  it.  Near  the  close  of  the  great  Leonore  overture 
he  brought  out  an  overwhelming  brass  climax  that  suggested  the 
swelling,  throbbing  chords  in  the  Tristan  Vorspiel.  When  I 
heard  this  for  the  first  time  I  said  to  myself,  "  A  splendid  climax, 
but  is  it  Beethoven  ?  "  But  when  I  consulted  the  score  I  found 
that  Beethoven  had  marked  this  place  not  with  the  ordinary 
fortissimo,  but  whhfff,  which  certainly  called  for  as  big  a 
climax  as  an  orchestra  can  produce.  All  other  conductors  had 
overlooked  that. 

In  reading  the  "  Bear  "  Symphony,  or  other  works  of  Papa 
Haydn,  Seidl  knew  how  to  reveal  the  irresistible  dance  swing 
and  bright  humor  of  that  composer.  Bach  was  one  of  his  idols. 
He  transcribed  some  of  his  works  for  modern  orchestra  and 
interpreted  them  with  as  much  zeal  as  he  ever  bestowed  on 
Wagner  or  Liszt.  Mozart's  operas,  especially  Don  Juan,  he 
conducted  con  amore.  With  Schubert  and  Schumann  he 
did  not  appear  to  be  in  sympathy  when  he  first  came  to 
New  York  ;  possibly  Wagner's  undervaluation  of  those  com- 
posers inclined  him  to  carelessness.  In  later  years  his  attitude 
changed,  and  while  he  seldom  equaled  Theodore  Thomas  or 
Arthur  Nikisch  in  those  two  masters,  I  remember  one  performance 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


in  which  he  surpassed  them.  It  was  Schubert's  Variations  on 
"  Death  and  the  Maiden,"  in  which,  played  by  the  strings  of  the 
Philharmonic,  he  conjured  almost  as  astounding  a  variety  and 
dazzling  beauty  of  colors  as  in  his  favorite  Siegfried  Idyl.  He  also 
knew  how,  when  in  the  mood  for  it,  to  interpret  a  Schumann 
symphony  with  rhythmic  vigor  and  the  proper  romantic  spirit. 

Of  Brahms  he  was  not  a  great  admirer.  Alfred  Veit  relates 
this  story : 

"  One  day  a  lady  was  introduced  to  Seidl,  and  begged  him 
to  hear  her  daughter  play,  as  the  girl  desired  to  appear  in  public 
with  the  cooperation  of  the  eminent  conductor  and  his  orchestra. 
Seidl  listened  very  graciously  to  the  eulogies  which  the  lady 
bestowed  upon  her  daughter,  and  said  in  his  kindest  way : 
"  Very  well,  Madame,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  your  daughter. 
What  does  she  play  ?  "  "  She  plays  a  concerto  by  Brahms," 
the  lady  replied,  "  and  another  one  by,  let  me  see — ,"  she  hesi- 
tatingly continued,  trying  to  remember  the  composer's  name. 
"  Well,  then,  I  will  hear  her  play  the  other  one"  the  great  con- 
ductor replied  in  his  most  caustic  style,  lighting  another  cigar." 

Nevertheless  I  have  heard  him  interpret  Brahms's  best 
work,  the  second  symphony,  with  the  same  conscientious  care 
that  he  bestowed  on  his  favorites  and  with  results  that  Brahms's 
special  champions  do  not  always  attain.  Beside  Schumann  and 
Brahms  there  was  another  composer  antagonistic  to  Wagner,  but 
to  whom  nevertheless  Mr.  Seidl  always  strove  to  do  justice.  I 
have  seldom  heard  anything  more  stirring  than  his  performances 
of  those  two  neglected  master  works,  Rubinstein's  Dramatic  and 
Ocean  Symphonies. 

For  the  Norwegian  Grieg  he  had  a  special  liking,  and 
it  was  always  a  delight  to  hear  him  play  the  "  Peer  Gynt,"  or 
other  weird,  or  sad,  or  sprightly  works  of  that  quaintly  original 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


composer.  He  was  so  eager  to  make  the  public  share  his  de- 
light in  certain  of  Grieg's  compositions  that  he  arranged  them 
for  orchestra.  I  remember  especially  one  of  these  arrangements, 
a  composition  entitled  "  Sounds  of  Bells,"  in  which  the  various 
orchestral  groups  appear  to  play  in  absolutely  unrelated  keys, 
producing  a  peculiar  dissonance  of  harmonics  like  the  overtones 
of  bells  loudly  rung,  but  with  a  deep,  musical  boom  coming  in 
again  and  again. 

He  also  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  original  and 
romantic  American  MacDowell,  whom  he  pronounced  a  greater 
composer  than  Brahms.  He  was  always  in  quest  of  orches- 
tral novelties.  Among  the  letters  addressed  to  him  I  have 
found  some  from  friends  whom  he  had  asked  to  hunt  up 
Spanish  or  other  exotic  works  for  him.  In  this  line  his 
library  is  unique ;  and  when  he  could  not  find  what  he 
wanted  he  would  orchestrate  piano  pieces.  To  his  predilection 
for  the  modern  French  school  I  have  already  alluded.  The 
light,  airy,  delicate  nature  of  this  music  were  specially  suited 
for  his  small  Metropolitan  orchestra,  and  the  only  objections  to 
his  performances  of  Delibes,  Massenet,  Berlioz  and  other 
French  masters  was  that  the  audiences  so  often  insisted  on 
encores,  which  he  did  not  like  as  a  rule.  His  interpretation  of 
Bizet's  U Arlesienne  at  the  Broadway  Theatre,  a  few  years  ago, 
was  one  of  the  finest  things  ever  heard  in  New  York.  The 
delicate,  sentimental  and  graceful  passages  in  this  inspired  music 
were  as  ideally  reproduced  by  him  as  the  several  passionate  out- 
bursts that  reveal  the  composer's  dramatic  power. 

That  he  did  not  neglect  contemporary  German  music  goes 
without  saying.  When  he  produced  Humperdinck's  Hansel 
und  Gretel  at  Daly's  Theatre,  he  was  hampered  by  insufficient 
singers  and  too  small  an  orchestra.     But  in  his  subsequent  inter- 

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ANTON       SEIDL   A       MEMORIAL 


pretation  of  the  best  numbers  of  the  score  in  the  concert  hall, 
there  was  something  ineffably  touching  in  the  ethereal  delicacy 
of  the  dream  music  which  brought  tears  to  many  eyes,  while  the 
imposing  sonority  of  the  climax  was  overwhelming.  With 
many  conductors  a  climax  means  simply  noise  ;  with  him  it  was  a 
thrilling  effect  of  cumulative  emotion,  like  that  which  makes 
a  reader's  heart  stop  beating  in  the  climax  of  an  intensely 
absorbing  story.  It  was  wonderful,  often,  to  see  Mr.  Seidl  com- 
municate his  strong  emotion,  his  virility,  as  well  as  his  delicacy, 
to  an  orchestra  of  a  hundred  players. 

Humperdinck  had  shared  with  him  the  task  of  teaching 
Siegfried  Wagner,  and  one  of  Mr.  Seidl's  last  deeds  was  to  in- 
troduce his  pupil's  symphonic  poem  "  Sehnsucht "  to  an  American 
audience.  He  was  censured  for  this  on  the  ground  that  this 
work  was  too  juvenile  for  performance  at  a  Philharmonic  concert. 
Perhaps  it  was,  but  if  the  artistic  interest  was  not  specially 
great,  it  was  a  matter  of  scientific  and  aesthetic  curiosity  to  know 
how  the  son  of  Wagner  and  grandson  of  Liszt  would  write 
music.  Should  he  make  as  great  strides  in  art  as  his  father 
did — which  is  not  at  all  impossible — that  Philharmonic  concert 
will  some  day  have  historic  interest. 

Under  Anton  Seidl's  baton  Weber's  Euryanthe  had  a 
series  of  superb  performances.  It  was  also  his  privilege  to 
make  America  acquainted  with  the  funeral  march  which  Wagner 
arranged  from  Euryanthe  motives  at  the  obsequies  of  Weber. 
Wagner  thought  he  had  lost  the  parts  of  this  arrangement,  but 
Seidl  found  them  among  his  old  papers,  and  it  was  only  just 
that  Frau  Wagner  should  have  allowed  him  to  produce  this 
composition  at  a  Philharmonic  concert  previous  to  its  publica- 
tion in  Germany. 

Anton  Seid'  also  contributed  his  share  in  helping  Gold- 

17+ 


ANTON       S   E   1    D   L  A       MEMORIAL 

marck  to  a  great  temporary  success  by  the  way  in  which  he 
rendered  the  ^een  of  Sheba  (fifteen  performances  in  one  season) 
and  Merlin.  For  ItaHan  "  prima-donna  operas "  he  natu- 
rally did  not  care,  but  he  admired  the  later  Verdi  ;  and  when 
he  conducted  Boito's  Mefistofele,  it  was  the  unanimous  opinion  of 
the  New  York  critics,  even  of  those  not  usually  friendly  to  him, 
that  he  conducted  it  as  admirably  as  he  did  Wagner's  works. 
But  enough  has  been  said  to  illustrate  his  cosmopolitan  gift  of 
interpretation. 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life  the  Hungarian,  Slavic,  and 
Scandinavian  schools  of  music  seemed  to  interest  him  more  and 
more.  His  last  love  may  be  said  to  have  been  Tschaikowsky's 
Pathetic  Symphony,  which  he  conducted  with  more  overwhelm- 
ing passion  at  every  repetition  and  the  poetry  of  which  no 
other  conductor  revealed  as  he  did.  The  last  time  he  played  it 
was  at  a  morning  concert  in  the  Astoria  Hotel — a  performance 
concerning  which  I  wrote  at  the  time  : 

"  Usually  after  a  concert  there  are  almost  as  many  opinions 
as  there  are  hearers,  but  after  yesterday's  concert  there  was  but 
one  sentiment,  summed  up  in  the  words,  '  Oh,  that  all  my 
friends  had  been  here  ! '  Mr.  Seidl  and  his  men  played  the 
Pathetic  Symphony  of  Tschaikowsky  as  it  has  never  been  played, 
and  probably  never  will  be  played  again,  with  a  heartrending 
pathos  that  made  many  of  the  ladies  in  the  audience  give  free 
vent  to  their  tears,  and  affected  Mr.  Seidl  himself  so  deeply  that 
friends  who  called  on  him  after  the  performance  found  him  so 
overcome  with  emotion  as  to  be  almost  unable  to  speak.  The 
orchestra  has  played  that  symphony  several  times  lately,  and  the 
result  showed  what  Mr.  Seidl  can  do,  and  what  he  would  do 
every  week  if  he  could  have  things  his  own  way." 

The  creation  of  the   Pathetic  Symphony  was  ominous  of 

•75 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Tschaikowsky's  death ;  its  performance  foreshadowed  Anton 
Seidl's  death.  The  Adagio  Lamentoso  was  also  played  at  his 
funeral  by  the  Philharmonic  Society.  The  master  could  no  longer 
conduct  it;  he  lay  in  his  bier  in  the  spot  where  he  used  to  sway 
all  hearts,  but  that  agonizing  fact  added  the  poignancy  of  grief 
to  the  music  which  his  genius  used  to  press  on  it,  and  made 
the  tears  flow  even  more  freely  than  if  he  were  conducting. 
None  of  his  friends  will  ever  again  hear  that  music  without 
recalling  that  sad  hour  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House. 
Anton  Seidl's  funeral  will  be  forever  associated  with  that  Adagio 
Lamentoso,  which  Mr.  Arthur  Mees  has  described  in  these 
words : 

"  The  movement  begins  with  a  cry  of  agony.  Again 
and  again  it  is  repeated,  rising  to  an  intensity  which  tells  of  grief 
almost  too  great  to  be  borne.  At  first  moments  of  calmness 
seem  to  bring  passing  relief,  but  they  are  of  short  duration. 
The  throes  of  agony  return,  and  as  they  rack  the  heart  they 
seem  to  extinguish  the  last  sparks  of  energy  and  hope,  one  by 
one,  until  all  is  gloom — life  has  fled.  The  final  measures  of  this 
movement,  as  their  tones  vanish  in  the  lowest  registers  of  the 
'cellos  and  bases — can  they  mean  anything  but  death,  the  dark- 
ness of  the  grave  ?  " 


176 


LETTERS     TO     SEIDL 

FROM 
RICHARD     WAGNER 


AND     OTHERS 


LETTERS     TO     ANTON     SEIDL 


IT  is  related  of  Chopin  that  he  would  take  a  cab  and  drive 
from  one  end  of  Paris  to  another  rather  than  write  a  letter. 
Schumann,  Liszt  and  Wagner,  on  the  contrary,  were  busy  letter 
writers,  and  of  Hans  von  Biilow's  writings,  mostly  epistolary, 
three  volumes  have  appeared  at  this  date  (February,  1899),  with 
thirty  more  years  to  be  heard  from. 

Anton  Seidl  was  one  of  those  who  wrote  letters  only  under 
compulsion  or  to  please  a  friend.  During  the  thirteen  years  I 
knew  him,  I  did  not  receive  more  than  half  a  dozen  letters  from 
him.  One  of  them,  it  is  true,  was  quite  long — about  twelve 
pages.  I  had  been  asked  to  send  cable  dispatches  about  the 
Bayreuth  Festival  of  189 1  to  a  syndicate  of  American  newspa- 
pers, but  as  I  wished  to  remain  in  London  till  the  last  moment 
and  knew  that  he  was  at  Bayreuth  during  the  time  of  the  re- 
hearsals I  asked  him  to  send  me  a  brief  resume  of  the  situation 
for  a  preliminary  dispatch,  which  he  promptly  did. 

From  hints  in  Frau  Cosima  Wagner's  letters  I  infer  that 
Anton  Seidl  must  have  written  her  some  long  and  interesting 
letters  about  the  musical  situation  in  America,  which  will  prob- 
ably be  printed  some  day.     On  the  whole,  however,  as  episto- 

179 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


lary  correspondence  made  up  so  insignificant  a  part  of  his 
activity,  I  have  decided  not  to  print  any  of  his  letters,  and  also 
to  select  only  a  few  from  among  those  written  to  him.  Promi- 
nent among  these  are  twelve  letters  from  Wagner.  As  was 
mentioned  on  a  preceding  page  many  of  his  letters  from  Wag- 
ner were  lost  in  Italy  by  the  breaking  of  one  of  his  trunks.  I 
find  among  the  letters  which  Mrs.  Seidl  has  placed  at  my  dis- 
posal a  number  from  friends  and  strangers  praising  and  thanking 
him  for  some  particularly  fine  performance.  Among  these  is  an 
amusing  one  from  a  Scotchman  who,  though  he  had  not  met  the 
great  conductor  personally,  addressed  him  as  "  My  Dear  Herr 
Anton  Seidl.  For  you  are  dear  to  me  by  virtue  of  your  kindly, 
sympathetic  face  and  by  your  genius.  I  have  heard  most 
everything  musical,  dramatic  and  literary  since  I  was  carried  on 
my  father's  shoulder  to  hear  Jenny  Lind  sing  in  Glasgow,  but  I 
have  heard  no  music  in  America  previous  to  seeing  you.  Long 
life,  good  health  and  good  luck  to  you.  I  don't  like  this  coun- 
try, but  when  I  see  you  control  an  American  audience  of  3,000 
persons  into  absolute  silence  for  two  hours,  I  feel  there  is  hope 
for  the  country,  and  that  they  are  likely  to  become  civilized 
some  time.  Accept  my  heartfelt  thanks  for  all  the  happiness 
your  orchestra  and  yourself  have  given  and  will  give  me." 

Another  grateful  listener  writes  :  "  I  have  just  returned 
from  a  beautiful  concert.  You  will,  I  trust,  not  think  it  rude  in 
me  to  write  at  once  to  tell  you  how  superb  I  found  the  music.  The 
Schubert  works  were  played,  truly,  far,  far  better  than  they  ever 
were  before  in  this  city."  There  are  many  of  these  letters,  and 
they  doubtless  pleased  their  modest  recipient,  who  was  sensitive 
to  praise  and  over-sensitive  to  censure  even  when  he  knew  it  was 
undeserved  and  ignorant  or  obviously  malicious.  He  should 
have  borne  in  mind  that  no  man  who   honestly  and  stubbornly 

180 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Stands  up  for  what  is  pure  and  good  can  escape  the  mudslingers 
who  would  fain  have  everything  in  the  world  as  unclean  and 
dishonest  as  they  are. 

Among  the  letters  at  my  disposal  is  one  from  an  admirer 
who  wrote  to  Mr.  Seidl  to  express  his  thanks  for  a  particularly 
fine  performance,  and  Mr.  Seidl's  reply  to  him,  as  follows  :  "  I 
am  glad  with  all  my  heart  to  hear  that  'T'ristan  moved  you  so 
deeply.  If  a  warm  heart  is  so  much  impressed  by  a  musical 
performance  as  yours  was,  according  to  your  letter,  the  perform- 
ance must  have  been  lucid  indeed ;  to  hear  which  gives  me  great 
pleasure.  The  enormous  amount  of  work  before  me  makes 
it  impossible  to  name  a  date  for  meeting  you,  but  be  assured 
that  your  letter  will  ensure  you  a  place  among  my  pleasant 
reminiscences." 

Among;  the  letters  is  one  from  Paderewski  commendino- 
Mile.  Melanie  Wienzkowski  to  Mr.  Seidl's  attention,  and  signed 
"  Your  cordially  devoted  and  sincere  admirer,  I.  J.  Paderewski." 
It  is  well  known  that  when  these  two  great  musicians  played 
together  the  first  time,  they  disagreed  in  regard  to  some  detail 
of  interpretation  and  were  not  on  the  best  of  terms  for  a  time. 
But  that  soon  passed  away,  and  when  Paderewski  played  with 
Seidl  (in  Brooklyn)  the  last  time,  and  I  asked  him  afterwards 
how  Seidl  conducted,  he  replied,  "  Divinely  !  " 

The  following  letters  are  printed  entire. 

FROM     ROBERT     I  N  G  E  R  S  O  L  L 
My  Dear  Mr.  Seidl: 

We  all  congratulate  you  on  your  great  triumph. 

We  were  not  surprised.  We  all  knew  it — knew  it  long 
ago.  We  knew  that  you  were  the  King  of  Leaders,  the  greatest 
interpreter  of  the  greatest  music. 

iSi 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


When  we  read  the  accounts  of  your  success  we  all  applauded, 
we  clapped  our  hands.  We  shouted  "  Bravo ! " — we,  the 
Browns,  the  Farrells,  the  IngersoUs,  raised  the  roof. 

We  kept  our  eyes  on  you  in  London,  at  Bayreuth  ;  we 
kept  our  ears  open,  we  listened,  and  we  heard  the  marvelous 
melodies — the  divine  harmonies,  the  floods  and  tempests,  the 
tides  and  cataracts  of  passion — and  we  saw  the  many-colored 
domes  rising  in  the  heaven  of  sound,  as  you  played  Parsifal  and 
Tristan. 

We  envied  those  who  really  saw  and  heard.  We  all  glory 
in  your  great  success.  We  are  glad  for  ourselves — glad  for 
Mrs.  Seidl,  glad  for  you,  glad  for  Wagner. 

And  so  we  congratulate  you  and  Mrs.  Seidl,  and  we  all 
send  our  love  to  both,  and  we  all  say.  Come  back  as  soon 
as  you  can. 


Walston,  Dobbs'  Ferry-on-Hudson. 
August  I,  1897. 

FROM     TEMPLETON     STRONG 

My  Dear  Good  Herr  Capellmeister  : 

You  must  pardon  my  not  having  written  to  you  several 
days  ago,  but  I  have  not  been  at  all  well  lately  and  am  still  un- 
well, suffering  much  from  my  head.  Yet,  I  must  write  you  a 
line  just  to  tell  you  how  deeply  grateful  I  am  to  you  for  having 
taken  so  much   trouble   on   my   account  and  for  the  honor  you 

i8s 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


have  done  me.  I  thank  you  right  heartily  and  I  would  give 
much  to  be  able  to  give  your  hand  a  good,  hearty  shake.  Your 
performing  my  symphony  has  been  the  only  bright  event  of  this 
winter  for  me.  All  here  has  been  very,  very  dreary  and  full  of 
trouble.  Your  interest  in  me  has  done  much  to  give  me  cour- 
age to  go  on  working,  so  I  am  again  grateful  to  you.  From  the 
very  beginning  you  have  shown  me  one  continuous  kindness, 
and  I  do  so  wish  I  could  express  here  in  writing  how  keenly, 
very  keenly,  I  appreciate  it  !  My  one  regret  about  it  all  is,  that 
I  cannot  think  of  anything  /  can  do  (or  you.  You  have  been  a 
kind  and  loyal  friend  to  me  and  you  have  kept  up  my  courage 
at  a  time  when,  God  knows,  my  courage  and  desire  to  go  on 
living  were  fast  leaving  me. 

I  shall  be  curious  to  see  the  criticisms  !  I  hope  the  critics 
have  not  blamed  you  for  producing  the  work  of  an  American  ! 
And  now  let  me  thank  you  for  the  telegram  !  I  was  in  bed 
when  it  came,  little  expecting  so  pleasant  a  surprise.  Again,  ich 
danke. 

With  my  very  best  compliments  to  your  good  wife  (ah, 
how  well  I  remember  the  excellent  dinners  !)  believe  me  ever 
sincerely  and  most  gratefully, 

Vevey.     March  9,    1893. 

FROM     JULES     MASSENET 
Dear  Colleague: 

Having  talked  much  about  you,  your  great  talents  and 
your  successes  with  my  friend,  Jean  de  Reszke,  I  feel  the  neces- 
sity of  writing  to  you  not  only  to  thank  you  for  your  flattering 
sympathy  toward  some  of  my  own  works,  but   to   tell   you  that 

.83 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


you  have  in  me  (since  the  performance  of  the  Tetralogy  in 
Brussels)  a  very  earnest  admirer.  It  was  at  London  that  I 
again  met  Jean  and  Edouard  de  Reszlce. 

At  present  I  am  in  the  country,  and  it  is  from   my  summer 
retreat  that  I  write  to  express  my  grateful  feelings. 

FROM     EUGENE     YSAYE 

Mv  Dear  Friend  : 

I  did  not  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  before  my  de- 
parture. I  should  have  been  glad  to,  however,  for  I  wanted 
to  tell  you  how  grateful  I  am  that  you  gave  me  the  opportunity 
to  appear  in  the  great  concerts  of  America — how  much  I 
appreciate  in  you  the  amiable  man,  the  witty  talker  and  the 
masterly  conductor  that  you  are  all  in  one.  Whether  or  not 
I  return  to  America  you  may  be  sure,  my  dear  Seidl,  that  I  shall 
always  keep  the  remembrance  of  your  kindly  and  cordial  welcome. 
We  certainly  have  thoughts  in  common  about  art  and  that, 
joined  to  the  admiration  that  I  feel  toward  you  as  a  great  mu- 
sician, bind  me  to  you  with  an  affection  that  I  shall  endeavor 
to  keep  unchanged  in  the  future.  Tell  your  dear  wife  for  me 
and  for  Madame  Ysaye,  how  grateful  we  are  for  the  amiable  way 
in  which  she  received  me.  I  shall  remember  our  artistic  con- 
versations, and  I  shall  not  fail  to  profit  by  your  precious  advice 
with  regard  to  my   performance   of  the   Wagner-Wilhelmj   ar- 

184. 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


rangements.  For  next  winter  I  have  recommended  to  Johnston, 
who  has  engaged  him,  the  violinist  Rivarde.  Johnston  and  I 
both  desire  that  this  meritorious  artist  should  make  his  debut 
under  your  protection  at  the  first  Philharmonic  concert. 
Rivarde  has  just  made  a  great  success  in  London  at  the  Nilcisch 
concerts,  with  Beethoven's  Concerto  and  Lalo's  Spanish  Sym- 
phony. This  is  the  programme  he  will  offer  you.  Rivarde 
is  in  every  way  worthy  of  your  concerts,  and  I  hope  you  will  be 
willing  to  give  him  a  place  at  the  first. 

Your  devoted  friend  who  embraces  vou, 


FROM     ANTONIN     DVORAK 

My   Dear   Friend  : 

Your  letter  reached  me  quite  well  and  was  a  great  joy  to  me. 
Many,  many  thanks  for  it.  You  ask  me  about  my  symphonic 
poems. 

O,  my  dear,  they  are  ready,  and  just  two  weeks  ago  Simrock 
made  it  public.  You  can  get  them  any  time,  and  you  have  only 
to  apply  to  Schirmer.  In  case  you  would  like  to  put  them 
on  the  programme,  I  should  advise  you  to  give  it  separated. 

The  Wassermann  takes  about  eighteen  minutes  in  per- 
formance, the  Midnoonwitch  (Mittagshexe)  thirteen,  but  the 
Golden  Spinning-wheel  twenty-five  to  thirty  minutes.  And  so, 
I  think,  it  would   be  too  much   all  three  at  one  concert. 

i8S 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


The  best  you  could  do  is  to  give  the  Wassermann  and 
Midnoonwitch  in  one  concert  and  the  Spinning-wheel  in  the 
next.  I  am  very  anxious  to  hear  your  opinion  of  my  new 
efforts. 

I  should  be  happv  if  they  would  please  you.  I  am  writ- 
ing a  new  series  of  symphony  poems,  and  just  now  I  have  finished 
one.     It  is  called  The  Pigeon  (Die  Taube). 

All  the  poems  are  made  after  Erben  Ballads  (the  author 
of  the  "  Spectre's  Bride,"  you  know),  and  I  am  just  delighted  of 
it.  As  those  poems  express  really  our  national  feelings,  so  I 
endeavored  to  keep  those.  We  all  prize  the  national  form, 
what  fits  us  so  nicely,  as  the  people  say.      Don't  laugh  ! 

Some  features  you  will  perhaps  find  very  funny,  but  this  is 
just  what  I  like.  Don't  laugh.  For  instance  in  the  Hexe  :  The 
little  child  is  crying  immensely  ;  the  mother  tries  to  make  it 
quiet  and  calm,  but  the  little  one  does  not  care,  is  crying  again  ; 
the  mother  gets  in  rage  and  calls  the  witch  (she  really  appears). 
And  now  the  horrible  story  between  mother  and  witch  is  going 
on,  which  you  find  in  the  printed  score.  There  is,  of  course, 
only  the  extract  of  the  original  poem. 

If  this  letter  reaches  you  send  me  afterward  a  line  more. 
I  will  be  always  happy  to  hear  from  my  good  friend  Seidl. 
With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Seidl  and  you. 


Don't  forget  to  remember  me  to  all  my  friends  in  America. 
But  it  would  take  too  much  time  for  you,  don't  you  think  ? 

Prague,  i8  \\  96. 

186 


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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


FROM     RICHARD     WAGNER 

"li/fR.  ANTON  SEIDL,  of  Pest,  has  during  the  last  five 
It  J.  years  been  at  my  side  helping  me  as  an  expert  musician 
in  the  preparations  for  my  Festival  Play  and  at  the  performances. 
He  has  proved  himself  eminently  capable  at  the  rehearsals  as 
well  as  at  the  performances,  so  that  in  case  of  necessity  I  should 
have  considered  it  possible  at  any  moment  to  put  the  director- 
ship entirely  in  his  hands,  all  the  more  because  his  leader- 
ship of  orchestral  concerts  during  several  years  has  conclusively 
proven  his  qualifications  as  an  energetic  and  careful  conductor. 

Richard  Wagner.* 

Bayreuth,  September  7,  1877. 


Dearest  Friend  and  Comrade  : 

You  know  that  I  write  only  when  the  water  is  up  to  my 
neck. 

Many  thanks  for  your  two  letters !     Keep  it  up. 

Accordingly — ! 

Herewith  a  letter  for  Angelo,  which  you  could  best  for- 
ward— perhaps  through  the  local  mail — because  I  don't  know 
when  the  gentleman  will  be  in  Leipsic. 

In  this  letter  I  have  proposed  and  advised  everything. 
Your  engagement  (to  begin  with,  for  the  Nibelungen)  as  well  as 
a  definite  arrangement  with  Jaeger,  to  whom  please  give  our 
regards. 

We  are  as  fond  of  you  as  ever  and  are  passably  well.  A 
few  days  ago  I  resumed  my  composing. 

Best  regards  from  R.  "W_ 

Bayreuth,  June  29  (30),  1878. 

*See  facsimile  of  the  origrinal  of  this  testimonial,  on  opposite  page. 

187 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


My  Dear  Friend  Seidl  : 

Your  excellent  letter  from  Leipsic  seems  to  have  exhausted 
you  completely.  As  you  remain  silent  I  will  at  least  tell  you 
what  has  happened  of  late  in  regard  to  a  position  for  you. 
Long  and  detailed  correspondence  with  Braunschweig ;  too  late, 
Riedel  sent  the  contract  already  signed.  In  reference  to  Triest 
I  remained  for  a  long  time  without  a  reply  ;  finally  the  offer  was 
declined  because  the  strength  of  the  Italian  sentiment  made  the 
engagement  of  a  German  leader  appear  dangerous.  Jauner,  on 
the  other  hand,  accepted  by  wire.  It  is  well  that  you  quickly 
responded  to  my  request.  This  at  present  unimportant  position 
will  bring  good  results.  In  the  first  place,  you  will  greatly  ad- 
vance the  cause  (vide  Jaeger),  and  particularly  as  coach  for  the 
singers  you  will  make  up  in  the  quickest  and  most  practical 
way  what  you  are  lacking :  thorough  knowledge  of  the  repertory 
of  our  theatres.  After  that  it  will  be  no  trouble  at  all  to 
conduct  all  those  things.  I  earnestly  hope  that  you  will  make 
rapid  progress  from  now  on,  but  a  beginning  had  to  be  made. 

I  had  to  look  for  a  piano  teacher  for  my  oldest  daughter, 
because  Daniela  especially  received  such  instruction  in  London. 
Liszt  recommended  a  pianist  by  name  of  Kellermann,  who  has 
been  educated  in  his  school.  He  is  quite  a  finished  piano  player, 
but  to  my  regret  very  backward  as  regards  music  in  general, 
because  he  had  to  practice  piano  technique  fourteen  hours  a  day. 
He  is  of  no  use  at  all  to  me.  He  has  been  studying  your 
transcription  of  the  first  act  of  Parsifal  for  a  month,  as  if  it  were 
a  piece  for  the  piano.  He  is  otherwise  well  educated  and  mod- 
est. I  have  now  commenced  the  third  act  and  don't  care  what 
happens  after  this.  Everybody  in  Wahnfried  sends  heartiest 
greetings.  Give  my  regards  to  Richter,  whom  I  don't  "  con- 
gratulate" any  more  !    (Foolish  stuflF!) 

i88 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Write  me  and  may  you  reap  joy  with  Jaeger — your  creation. 
You  can  advise  him  better  than  anybody  else,  for  you  have 
assisted  at  Unger's  instruction. 

Therefore,  God  be  with  you  ! 

Your  always  devoted  Richard  Wagner. 

Bayreuth,  November  2,  1878. 

Dear  Friend  : 

Here  I  have  once  more  received  a  strange  letter  to  which  I 
do  not  reply  because  it  tells  me  nothing.  Acting  on  the  infor- 
mation you  sent  me  I  wrote  to  Director  Neumann  and  told  him 
not  to  produce  Tristan  as  a  star  performance  but  as  part  of  his 
regular  repertory.  In  doing  this  I  had  the  idea  in  my  mind  to 
arrange  for  Jaeger's  engagement  after  all.  As  you  told  me  that 
it  was  impossible  to  produce  Tristan  during  the  summer 
months,  because  the  singer  you  have  picked  out  for  Isolde  is 
enceinte,  I  replied  to  Mr.  Neumann  that  this  delay  was  quite 
agreeable  to  me,  because  I  intended  to  pass  the  summer  at 
Naples  on  account  of  the  bathing.  Here  is  the  Director's  reply : 
Not  one  word  about  Jaeger  or  the  delay  until  I  can  come.  But 
I  will  not  give  my  consent  to  the  production  of  Tristan  if  I  can- 
not attend  the  rehearsals  and — in  accordance  with  my  promise — 
arrange  the  work  myself  with  reference  to  the  ensemble  that  can 
be  procured  at  Leipsic.  This  must  be  done  because  I  want 
Leipsic  to  accomplish  an  unqualified  success. 

Be  kind  enough  to  inform  the  proper  persons  of  this. 

I  am  passably  well  and  hope  at  last  to  get  over  the  conse- 
quences of  Bayreuth's  climatic  conditions  entirely. 

Everybody  sends  regards  with  true  affection. 

Your  good  old  R.  Wagner. 

March  5,  1880,  Villa  d'Angri,  Naples. 

189 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Dear  Friend  : 

That  is  a  nasty  affair,  that  story  of  the  "  lost"  letter.  Only 
once  before  a  similar  thing  happened  to  me,  when  Director  Jau- 
ner  of  Vienna  claimed  that  he  had  not  received  a  letter  which  de- 
manded a  decisive  answer.  All  other  letters  have  always  arrived 
promptly.  It  is  very  unpleasant  to  me  that  Director  Neumann 
was  in  no  way  disturbed  when  he  received  no  reply  to  his  last 
letter — not  even  through  you — and  calmly  continued  his  prepa- 
rations for  the  production  of  'Tristan  during  the  summer. 

In  short:  I  have  to  bathe  in  the  sea  here  all  summer  and 
cannot  return  to  Bayreuth  before  December.  Of  this  I  informed 
Neumann  in  that  "lost  letter"  two  months  ago.  I  shall  not 
permit  the  production  of  Tristan  without  my  cooperation,  for  good 
and  sufficient  reasons,  which  unfortunately  are  lost.  I  must 
arrange  this  work  first  in  order  to  make  the  production  possible, 
and  I  cannot  leave  this  arrangement  to  anybody  else,  certainly 
not  to  you,  dear  Seidl,  because  you  show  by  your  action  in  this 
affair  that  you  don't  know  what  it  is  about.  I  have  no  more  to 
say  about  this. 

Either  Mr.  Neumann  acts  with  the  consideration  due  to 
me  and  puts  off  the  production  of  Tristan  until  it  is  possible  for 
me  to  assist,  or  I  must  publicly  and — if  possible — with  the  help 
of  the  courts  protest  and  remonstrate.* 

*  For  once  Richard  Wagner  lost  patience  with  Anton  Seidl.  He  had  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  Tristan  and  Isolde  needed  revision  before  it  could  be  produced 
successfully  at  Leipsic,  whereas  Seidl,  with  his  enthusiasm  for  the  opera,  and  his  con- 
fidence in  the  master's  genius  and  the  singers,  made  up  his  mind  to  go  ahead  regardless 
of  remonstrance  and  threats  of  appeals  to  the  courts.  It  was  a  case  of  the  egg  being 
really  wiser  than  the  hen,  to  use  a  homely  German  comparison.  As  we  saw  in  the 
biographic  chapter,  this  Leipsic  performance  of  Tristan  was  such  a  brilliant  success 
that  Wagner  wrote  to  Neumann,  the  manager  :  "Now  it  has  succeeded  without  my 
cooperation,  and  that  astonishes  me  !  Well,  good  luck  !  I  certainly  discover  in  Seidl 
hidden   faculties    which  only  require  a    fostering   warmth  to  surprise  even  myself." 

190 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


I  have  nothing  to  add  to  this,  except  the  demand  to  inform 
me  of  the  decision  of  the  Leipsic  management  within  eight  days 
or  not  later  than  April  30th. 

Farewell  and  be  sure  of  our  best  regards.     Yours, 

R.  Wagner. 

Villa  d'Angri,  April  i6,  i88o,  Naples. 

Pray  tell  me,  dear  SeidI,  whether  you  have  received  my 
letter  containing  a  note  from  Mr.  A.  Neumann,  which  I  sent 
you  at  least  five  weeks  ago. 

That  you  did  not  answer  at  all  did  not  cause  me  any  serious 
apprehension  for  C.  J.,  but  it  perplexes  me  if  I  continually  find 
in  the  newspapers  reports  of  my  visit  to  Leipsic  this  summer, 
and  of  other  matters  in  connection  with  such  a  trip.  I  wrote  you 
that  I  am  going  to  stay  here  all  summer  on  account  of  the  sea- 
bathing, and  that  I  will  not  return  to  Bayreuth  before  the  be- 
ginning of  winter,  and  that  I  would  then  come  to  L.  if  a  good 
Tristan  was  there. 

Now  please  let  me  have  some  news. 

You — bad  fellow  ! 

Yours, 


Wagner. 


Naples,  Villa  d'Angri  Posilipo,  April  6,  iSSo. 


My  Dear  Seidl  : 

W^hat  shall  I  write  you  ?  Neumann  evades  me  just  as  he 
did  in  regard  to  Jaeger,  and  it  is  entirely  impossible  to  continue 
advising  him.  I  am  compelled  to  let  everything  at  Leipsic  go 
as  it  pleases.  The  worst  thing  is  that  affair  with  Sucher ;  if 
I   wanted  to  interfere  there   I   would  at   least  have  to  go  to  L. 

Highly  as  he  esteemed  his  pupil,  he  had   underrated  his  ability.      From  that  Leipsic 
performance  under  Seidl  dates  the  triumphant  career  of  Tristan  and  hoLU. 

191 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


myself,  which  would  cause  indescribable  confusion.  The  best 
thing  would  be  if  you  would  give  Sucher  a  piece  of  your  mind, 
mentioning  me  directly  as  your  authority.  Don't  be  insulting, 
but  very  decided.  As  I  said,  I  cannot  say  another  word  to  Neu- 
mann ;  but  whatever  may  happen  do,  in  any  case,  try  to  get  a 
position — no  matter  what  kind — at  a  theatre.  This  is  indis- 
pensable for  your  whole  life.  Everybody  must  make  a  be- 
ginning— think  of  me  !  In  a  certain  sense  your  long  stay  at 
Bayreuth  has  really  handicapped  you.  Should  you  personally 
suffer  want  let  me  know  it ;  you  can  rely  on  my  assistance. 

Jaeger  I  don't  understand  either.  He  has  evidently  no 
inspiration;  all  he  wants  is  an  extra  good  engagement.  God 
knows  how  it  will  work  with  Unger  !  But,  as  I  said,  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  talk  to  or  advise  Neumann  ;  he  acts  as  if  he 
didn't  understand  me. 

Therefore — 

We  have  always  visitors  I  am  always  working  a  little  but 
slowly. 

Everybody  remembers  you  with  affection  and  the  memorv 
of  the  "uncle"  is  still  green. 

Heartiest  greetings. 

[Date  line  and  signature  given  away  by  Mr.  Seidl.] 

Many  Thanks,  Dear  Seidl  : 

I  wish  you  luck  for  everything  good  in  which  you  assist. 

But  now  be  good  enough  to  get  Mr.  Rosenheim  to  show 
you  my  receipt  for  the  November  royalties  for  the  Walkiire.  I 
cannot  at  all  recall  having  received  any  money  from  Leipsic 
during  December — /.  f.,  for  November. 

This   may   not  amount  to   much,  but  it  worries  me  and  I 

192 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


can't  get  rid  of  the  idea  that  people  might  consider  me  forgetful. 
Now  then,  good  luck  to  you. 

Yours, 

Wagner. 

Bayreuth,  January  24,  1881. 

Dear  Friend  : 

Will  you  kindly  give  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Sachse-Hof- 
meister  and  also  thank  her  in  my  name  for  her  well-meant 
proposals. 

I  am  now  always  at  home  and  request  you  two  to  come 
just  as  it  pleases  you. 

At  all  events,  however,  be  sure  to  combine  your  visit  with 
that  of  Mr.  Winkelmann. 

I  also  thank  you  for  the  information  you  sent  me  ;  I  have 
taken  the  necessary  steps. 

May  we  soon  meet  again  !     Your 

Richard  Wagner. 

Bayreuth,  June  17,  1881. 

Dear  Friend  : 

I  came  here  with  my  wife,  Eva  and  Fidie  to  consult  a 
dentist,  and  intend  to  return  Monday  afternoon  by  way  of 
Leipsic  to  avoid  a  night  trip  from  Dresden.  Be  kind  enough 
to  engage  rooms  for  us  in  the  Hotel  Hauff.  If  there  is  any- 
thing interesting  to  be  seen  in  the  theatre  we  may  go  there. 

It  is  also  of  importance  to  hear  something  definite  about 
Neumann's  plans  for  Dresden.  I  have  not  spoken  about  this 
to  anybody  connected  with  the  theatre,  but  Dr.  Hartmann 
assures  me  that  Neumann  has  told  him,  before  starting   on  his 

193 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


last  trip  to  Hungary,  that  the  production  of  the  Ring  des  Nibel- 
ungen  by  the  ensemble  of  the  Court  Theatre  was  a  settled  fact. 
This  would  mean  that  Neumann  could  sell  his  exclusive  right  of 
producing  the  Ring  to  others  for  so  and  so  much. 

In  this  case  Neumann  had  better  look  out,  as  he  would  be 
in  a  decidedly  uncomfortable  position  and  I  would  be  com- 
pelled to  cancel  the  whole  contract. 

Please  send  me  one  word  about  this  at  once.  I  will  notify 
you  by  wire  of  the  time  of  our  arrival.     Your, 

R.  W. 

Dresden,  Hotel  Bellevue,  September  lo,  1881. 

My  Dear  Seidl  : 

It  was  impossible  to  let  you  have  the  Parsifal  prelude  be- 
cause I  had  already  referred  it  to  Richter,  who,  as  you  know, 
originally  gave  concerts  only.  While  the  competition  between 
Neumann's  enterprise  and  Richter-Pollini  is  very  disagreeable 
to  me,  I  gave  my  consent  only  because  I  was  almost  forced  to 
do  it.  It  is  impossible  to  hurt  Richter  by  giving  you  something 
that  I  have  refused  to  him.  Now  you  also  know  my  experience 
with  Albert  Hall  ;  it  worries  me  that  Neumann  expects  to 
realize  large  profits  there.  I  can  account  for  this  idea  only  on 
the  assumption  that  somebody  believes  that  a  great  many  people 
have  not  the  means  and  the  time  to  attend  the  complete  per- 
formances of  the  Nibelungen,  and  that  they  could  be  served  by 
giving  them  fragments  in  a  summary  way  in  one  evening.  It  is 
possible  that  in  this  way  that  terrible  space  can  be  filled.  But 
in  that  case  success  depends  solelv  on  those  parts  of  the  Nibelun- 
gen  which  the  public  desires  to  hear. 

I  am  thankful  to  Mr.  Neumann  for  his  prompt  telegraphic 
reports  of  the  results  of  the  first  performance  of  every  part.     Of 

194 


AKTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  second  performance  I  have  heard  nothing ;  has  it  taken 
place  ? 

I  hope  you  will  believe  that  I  rejoice  in  your  success.  You 
know  that  I  rely  on  you  above  all  others. 

How  is  it?  Can  I  have  Schelper  for  Bayreuth  to  alternate 
from  time  to  time  with  Hill  as  Klingsor  ?  I  am  not  helpless  in 
this  case,  but  I  believe  I  am  doing  right  if  I  give  Schelper  the 
chance  to  show  his  aptitude  for  impassioned  characterization. 

Well,  the  dear  God  in  heaven  bless  you  all !  Give  my  best 
regards  to  my  old  and  new  Nibelungs,  and  let  us  see  you  again  at 
our  house  where  you  are  always  welcome,  as  you  know  well 
enough. 

With  all  my  heart,  yours,  Rich.  Wagner. 

Bayreuth,  May  i6,  1882. 

Dear  Seidl: 

I  presume  that  you  have  returned  to  Leipsic  and  thank  you, 
in  the  first  place,  for  your  pleasant  letter  from  London.  There 
will  be  much  to  say  about  the  character  of  the  execution  of  this 
difficult  enterprise  ;  especially  the  error  in  regard  to  the  respons- 
iveness of  the  London  public  will  have  to  be  corrected.  That 
PoUini  affair  has  been  very  unpleasant,  but  in  my  present  con- 
dition I  cannot  attend  to  these  matters  as  closely  as  might  be 
desirable,  and  I  am — in  order  to  get  the  rest  I  absolutely  need — 
often  compelled  to  let  matters  drift  along.  Director  Neumann 
has  also  of  late  given  me  almost  too  much  work  with  the  grant- 
ing of  all  kinds  of  concessions,  and  my  head  is  sometimes  quite 
dizzy.  In  addition  to  all  this  we  have  new  complications : 
for  instance,  at  present  with  Berlin  about  Lohengrin.  I  can't  find 
my  old  contract  with  Hulsen,  and  don't  know  whether  I  have 
given  him  the  exclusive   right  to   produce  the  opera  in  Berlin. 

19s 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


I  don't  believe  it,  for  such  arrangements  were  not  made  at  that 
time.  If  he  claims  that  right  now  he  should  show  his  proof,  but 
he  will  probably  simply  attempt  to  rely  on  old  privileges  which 
are  no  longer  in  force  since  the  old  laws  have  ceased  to  be  in 
force.  Director  Neumann  must,  in  any  case,  arrange  this  matter 
with  Voltz  and  Baltz,  as  this  opera  {Lohengrin)  was  at  the  time 
given  over  so  far  as  Germany  is  concerned  to  those  gentlemen. 

In  regard  to  Tristan  and  Isolde,  I  am  settling  the  matter 
in  such  a  way  that  those  gentlemen  will  have  nothing  more 
to  do  with  the  sale  of  that  work. 

There  is  great  uncertainty  about  N's  relations  to  Staege- 
mann.  The  latter  is  said  to  have  ordered  from  Bruckner,  of 
Coburg,  the  decorations  for  the  Nibelungenring  for  Leipsic. 

Please  drop  that  affair  about  Schelper.  Levi  has  already 
engaged  Kindermann  to  alternate  as  Klingsor.  I  will  not  dis- 
turb this  arrangement  and  don't  need  Schelper. 

Let  us  see  you  soon  again  here  and  continue  to  like 

Your  old, 

R.  Wagner. 

June  4,  1882. 

Bravo,  Dear  Seidl: 

Do  not  fail  to  insist  upon  the  vacation  and  come  to  me  as 
quickly  as  possible.  You  can  stay  with  us.  You  must  help 
me  again;  on  the  25th  of  December  I  intend  to  have  my  sym- 
phony, which  will  be  just  fifty  years  old  on  that  day,  played  for 
my  wife.  I  have  been  promised  that  a  fairly  good  orchestra  will 
be  formed  from  the  pupils  of  the  conservatory  and  you  will  have 
to  manage  the  rehearsals.  A  few  new  arrangements  will  also  be 
necessary.     Therefore,  go  ahead  ! 

196 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Your  telegram  has  delighted  all  Venice.  My  best  regards 
to  Neumann  and  his  Nibelung  Heroes !  Favorable  news  is 
always  very  welcome,  etc. 

Adieu  !     Your  very  old  R.  W. 

Venice,  Palazzo  Vendramin,  Canal  Grande,  December  2,  1882. 

Dear  Seidl  : 

Your  last  letter  has  delighted  and  touched  us  very  much 
and  I  should  reply  to  it  more  fully — but  just  now  I  have  not 
the  time  and  must  confine  myself  to  ask  a  favor  of  minor 
importance. 

If  Scaria  is  with  you  I  wish  to  ask  him  to  have  a  letter 
forwarded  which  I  just  now  sent  to  his  address  in  Vienna. 

About  Neumann's  enterprise,  which  I  consider  extremely 
difficult,  I  must  hear  at  last  something  definite.  It  worries  me 
that  he  does  not  want  to  give  me  at  least  an  estimate  of  his  re- 
ceipts in  order  to  enable  me  to  form  an  idea.  I  am  afraid  that 
he  has  involved  himself  in  such  terrible  expenses  that  he  does 
not  want  to  consider  at  this  moment  under  what  obligations  he 
is  to  me.  I  would  like  very  much  to  receive  some  reassuring 
news  on  this  point  and  you  might  be  able  to  procure  them  by 
talking  the  matter  over  confidentially. 

Bremer  with  his  4^^  violin  does  not  please  me  either.  It 
is  hard  for  me  to  interfere  with  his  affairs  as  long  as  he  does  not 
ask  for  my  opinion,     God  knows  ! 

Well !  You  remain  always  dear  to  me,  even  if  I  do  not 
need  an  orchestra  this  time.     Newspaper  gossip  ! 

Everything  remains  as  it  was  !      Best  regards  from  vours. 

Rich.  Wagner. 

Venice,  January  i,  1S83. 


197 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


Dedication  on  fly-leaf  of  Parj//^/ text-book. 
Dear  Seidl  : 

I  return  your  fine  copy,  turned  into  elegant  type,  and 
hope  that  it  will  please  you  as  much  as  those  splendid  amateur 
concerts  of  last  winter. 

Many  thanks, 

Rich.  Wagner. 


Wagner  was  much  given  to  punning — like  Shakespeare, 
Beethoven  and  other  great  men.  When  he  presented  the  score  of 
Die  G'dtterd'dmmerung  to  Seidl,  he  wrote  into  it  "  Auf  der  Welt  ist 
alles  Seidl " — "  everything  in  this  world  is  Seidl  "  (instead  of 
"  eitel,"  vanity).  On  the  Rheingold  score  he  wrote  these  lines, 
dated  Christmas,  1874: 

Auf  der  Welt  ist  alles  eitel : 

Wer    kein   Maass  hat,  trinkt  sein  Seidl. 

Anton  nur  Ist's  ganz  gelungen  : 

Von  der  Sohle  bis  zum  Scheitel, 

Hat  er  sich  hineingesungen 

In  den  Ring  des  Nibelungen. 

Which,  perhaps,  may  be  thus  translated,  with  the  explana- 
tion that  Maass  (mug)  and  Seidl  mean  the  same  thing. 

In  this  world  all  things  are  idle. 
Hast  no  mug  ?  then  take  your  Seidl. 
Anton  only  has  succeeded  : 
From  the  head  down  to  his  lung 
He  alone  himself  has  sung 
Into  the  Ring  of  the  Nibelung. 
198 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


The  letters  from  Frau  Cosima  Wagner  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  print  entire  on  account  of  some  personal  allusions.  A  few  ex- 
tracts, however,  are  permissible. 

FROM  COSIMA  WAGNER 
My  Dear  Friend: 

On  the  morning  of  June  6th,  just  on  Siegfried's  birthday, 
we  received  your  entertaining  and  newsy  letter,  and  you  could 
not  have  sent  us  a  more  welcome  gift  than  all  this  information. 
Every  item  was  of  value  to  us  in  confirming  and  enlarging  our 
impressions.  I  am  sorry  we  cannot  have  you  among  us  this 
summer,  but  I  rejoice  greatly  at  the  thought  of  seeing  you  again 
next  summer,  and  so  do  my  children. 

Your  Tristan  performance  must  have  been  very  fine,  and 
I  wish  I  could  hear  it  again  sung  beautifully — as  I  once  did  by 
Schnorr. 

You  are  quite  right :  the  theatre-hero  mask  (Theater-Heros 
Fratze)  is  of  small  account,  and  I  believe  that  whoever  sings  and 
speaks  these  works  with  real  beauty  of  voice  finds  the  proper 
physiognomic  expression  and  gestures  spontaneously. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  from  you  so  many  good  things  about 
Madame  Nordica.  The  hours  devoted  to  her  studying  of  the 
role  of  Elsa  with  me  are  among  my  pleasant  reminiscences. 
Did  Jean  de  Reszke  tell  you  he  studied  the  part  of  Tristan  with 
Kniese  ? 

I  am  dreadfully  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  have  these  two 
great  artists,  Jean  and  Edouard,  with  me.  I  have  done  all  I 
could  to  secure  them. 

We  are  working  busily  amid  the  difficult  circumstances  cre- 
ated by  the  present-day  theater !  Alas,  our  art  is  in  a  dreadful 
condition.      Everything  is  going  to  ruin. 

'99 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Siegfried  will  give  you  pleasure  :  he  is  entirely  genuine !  and 
to  me  an  indispensable  aid. 

Of  the  '76  singers  we  shall  have  Lilli  Lehmann  and  Vogl. 
Also  Mottl  and  Kranich.  Richter  as  a  matter  of  course.  So 
that  I  can  rely  on  having  plenty  of  assistance  in  refreshing  my 
reminiscences.  For  ten  days  we  have  been  trying  the  new 
swimming  machines  (not  carts). 

Of  what  you  know,  dear  friend,  you  can  never  tell  me  too 
much.  I  was  much  entertained  by  your  story  of  the  dragon  and 
the  sacrificed  garment !  That  was  a  merry  state  of  affairs.  I 
also  laughed  much  over  the  ritardando  in  the  Walkiire  Vorspiel. 
I  could  tell  you  similar  stories — others,  too,  of  another  kind. 

All  these  things  may  be  deferred  till  we  can  talk  them  over 
in  a  happy  hour  !  Farewell,  dear  friend,  accept  once  more  my 
thanks,  with  the  most  cordial  greetings  from  all  of  us. 

C.  Wagner. 

Bayreuth,  Wahnfried,  June  6,  1896. 

In  the  spring  of  1897  Mr.  Seidl  received  the  following 
despatch  from  Bayreuth : 

"  Is  your  coming  to  Europe  certain  ?  If  so  I  offer  you 
conductorship  of  Parsifal.     Silence  for  the  present  desirable." 

Wahnfried. 


This    despatch    was    followed    soon    by    Mme.   Wagner's 
letter  : 

Wahnfried,  March  9,  1897. 
My  Dear  Friend  : 

All  Wahnfried   thanks  you   in   advance   for   your  consent, 
which  has  given  us  great  joy. 


WALTHER'S  SONG  IN   "  TANNHAUSER  " 

In  December,  i88g,  Anton  Seidl  allowed  the  New  York  Figaro  to 
print  a  version  of  Walther's  song  in  the  second  act  of  Tannhduser 
in  Wagner's  own  handwriting  which  was  made  for  the  Paris  Grand 
Opera,  and  a  facsimile  of  which  is  incorporated  in  this  volume.  Mr. 
Seidl  appended  the  following  explanation  : 

"  I  believe  I  am  offering  the  musical  public  and  my  colleagues 
something  worth  knowing  in  making  them  acquainted  with  one  of  the 
master's  compositions  of  which  few  seem  to  know  the  existence.  In 
i860,  at  the  recommendation  of  the  Princess  of  Metternich,  Napoleon 
III  gave  the  order  that  Tannhduser  should  be  produced  at  the  Grand 
Opera,  and  for  this  occasion  Wagner  made  important  changes  in  the 
score.  The  Venusberg  scene,  in  particular,  was  so  much  enlarged  that 
Venus  is  brought  up  almost  to  the  level  of  a  Briinnhilde  or  an  Isolde.  The 
orchestration  of  the  opera  was  subjected  almost  throughout  to  a  thorough 
revision.  The  contest  of  singers  in  the  second  act  also  suffered  many- 
changes.  To  accelerate  the  action,  Walther's  song  was  omitted  entirely. 
But  that  the  master  did  not  make  up  his  mind  to  this  cut  without  a 
struggle  is  proved  by  the  careful  revision  of  Walther's  song  which  he 
made  for  the  French  score,  changing  the  four-four  time  of  the  original 
version  to  three-four,  in  deference  to  the  foreign  tongue.  If  we  compare 
the  two  readings  of  this  song,  we  note,  at  once,  the  subtle  intelligence 
the  master  displayed  in  the  way  in  which  he  changed  the  melody  to  the 
more  flowing  three-four  rhythm  without  omitting  a  detail  of  the  original. 
The  Paris  version  of  this  song  has  not  appeared  in  print,  for  the  master 
omitted  it  from  the  later  complete  edition  which  Fiirstenau,  of  Berlin, 
published  with  the  object  of  not  retarding  the  action  of  the  second  act 
unnecessarily — a  proceeding  which  I  am  sure  is  regretted  by  many  who 
now  miss  the  peculiarly  German  sentimental  personality  of  Walther  von 
der  Vogelweide.  So  far  as  I  know  there  exists  no  other  copy  of  the 
French  version  of  this  song. 


o 


c 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


I  enclose  the  dates  of  rehearsals.  Please  telegraph  me  one 
word  ("  agreed  "),  so  I  shall  know  it  is  all  right,  then  we  can  go 
into  details.  I  hope  the  plan  will  suit  you,  a*d  Mr.  Grau  too. 
You  would  rehearse  Parsifal  on  June  30th  and  July  ist,  and 
would  then  be  free  to  fly  (to  London)  till  July  12th,  whereafter 
you  would  remain  with  us. 

Siegfried  sends  very  special  greetings.  He  is  delighted 
that  you  are  coming  and  I  thank  you  for  your  warm  words 
about  him.  .  .  . 

You  see,  my  dear  friend,  I  am  getting  garrulous.  This 
will  prove  to  vou  my  genuine  delight  over  your  letter.  Let  me 
press  your  hand  while  I  say  auf  Wiedersehen. 

You  were  always  a  favorite  at  Wahnfried  and  always  will 
remain  so.  We  shall  have  many  things  to  tell  one  another. 
You  have  your  experiences,  I  mine.  With  kindest  greetings 
from  all  of  us.  C.  Wagner. 

Richard  Wagner  and  his  family  indeed  loved  and  treated 
Anton  Seidl  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  them,  and  among  the 
many  letters  of  condolence  there  was  one  from  this  family 
expressing  the  deepest  sorrow — a  sorrow  brightened  only  by  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  his  privilege  before  his  death  to  conduct 
the  work  at  the  creation  of  which  he  had  assisted  at  Bayreuth. 
Mme.  Danlela  Thode  (nee  von  Biilow)  wrote  that  she  regarded 
it  as  a  blessed  omen  that  one  of  the  last  functions  by  which  he 
showed  his  devotion  to  his  cause  and  his  goodness  of  heart  was 
the  production  in  America  of  her  brother  Siegfried's  symphonic 
poem,  "  Sehnsucht." 

In  the  Bayreuther  Blatter  for  1898  (V,  VI)  Hans  von 
Wolzogen  printed  the  German  originals  of  Wagner's  letters  to 
Seidl   contained  in  this   volume  (except  those  dated  September 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


lo,  1881,  May  16,  1882,  June  4,  1882,)  and  an  obituary  notice 
from  which  I  gather  a  few  interesting  facts  not  previously 
alluded  to.  Seidl  put  together  the  orchestral  score  of  Parsifal 
which  was  always  in  use  at  Wagner's  house,  up  to  about  the 
middle  of  the  second  act.  In  Bayreuth,  where  he  remained  as  a 
regular  member  of  the  Wagner  family  until  1878,  he  conducted 
the  amateur  orchestra  and  Wagner  repeatedly  attended  the  con- 
certs as  he  at  once  recognized  Seidl  as  a  born  conductor.  As 
early  as  1884,  Frau  Wagner  had  intended  to  ask  him  to  con- 
duct Parsifal,  with  Levi  as  colleague  ;  but  Seidl  could  not  leave 
America.  He  had  great  faith  in  the  musical  ability  of  Siegfried 
Wagner,  who  looked  up  to  him  as  his  master  ;  but  Seidl,  with 
characteristic  modesty,  did  not  like  this  and  wanted  to  invert 
the  relation.  "In  London,"  Herr  von  Wolzogen  concludes, 
"  where  Seidl  was  to  conduct  the  Covent  Garden  performances 
again,  his  young  friend  Siegfried  intended  to  visit  him  and  take 
him  back  to  Bayreuth  for  a  long  visit.  Seidl  had  also  spoken 
of  his  plan  of  buying  a  house  in  Bayreuth  and  making  it  his 
home." 


ANTON     SEIDL'S     LITERARY    WORK 


ANTON     SEIDL'S     LITERARY    WORK 


ANTON  SEIDL  was  too  busy  with  rehearsals  and  perform- 
ances to  have  much  time  for  literary  work.  Of  the  few 
articles  he  wrote,  the  most  important  are  the  two  on  Conducting 
which  he  contributed  to  the  sumptuous  subscription  work  of 
which  he  was  the  editor-in-chief,  The  Music  of  the  Modern  World, 
published  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co.,  who  have  very  kindly  allowed 
their  reprint  in  this  volume.  They  were  translated  by  Mr. 
Krehbiel,  and,  as  I  have  said  before,  they  rank  second  only  to 
Wagner's  famous  essay  "On  Conducting."  In  1897  I  had  the 
privilege  of  translating  a  most  interesting  article  of  his  on  the 
Tannhduser  Overture  for  a  subscription  book.  But  as  this  is 
not  yet  in  print  it  was  of  course  impossible  to  secure  permis- 
sion to  incorporate  it  in  this  volume.  It  takes  the  witty  form 
of  a  lecture  to  a  late-comer  at  the  opera,  telling  him  of  all  the 
fine  things  he  has  missed. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  German  opera  season,  1887-8,  a 
souvenir  was  issued  by  the  New  York  Figaro  Publishing  Co., 
which  included,  among  other  things,  a  series  of  reflections  on 
the  past  season  by  Mr.  Seidl.  These  I  have  had  translated  for 
this  volume.      I  also  insert  a  few  paragraphs  from  an  article  on 

205 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  Development  of  Music  in  America,  which  appeared  in  the 
Forum  for  May,  1892,  and  which  Dr.  Rice  has  kindly  allowed 
me  to  use.  The  greater  part  of  it  refers  to  temporary  conditions 
which  existed  after  the  expulsion  of  German  opera,  but  the  fol- 
lowing pages  are  worth  reproducing. 

THE        DEVELOPMENT      OF       MUSIC       IN       AMERICA 

"  I  have  been  accused  of  being  a  blind  devotee  of  German 
opera,  but  I  believe  that  this  charge  is  undeserved.  It  is  true 
that  I  adhere  to  the  new  school  of  music  as  opposed  to  the  old, 
and  I  support  any  good  music  written  after  the  new  forms,  whether 
it  comes  from  a  German,  French,  an  Italian,  or  an  English  com- 
poser. The  Germans  are  not  the  only  composers  who  follow 
the  new  school  of  musical  composition,  though  inasmuch  as 
this  school  was  founded  by  a  German,  they  naturally  have 
become  identified  with  it  on  account  of  the  enthusiastic  support 
which  they  have  given  it.  It  is  a  mistake,  however,  to  say 
that  the  new  forms  of  music  are  due  wholly  to  Wagner. 
Wagner  created  them,  but  he  was  himself  the  creation  of  his 
time.  We  had  grown  away  from  the  old  methods,  and  the 
conditions  were  ripe  for  a  new  and  higher  development.  Wag- 
ner saw  in  the  opera  the  possibilities  which  it  afforded  for  the 
expression  of  the  profoundest  emotions  and  the  noblest  sentiments 
of  man,  and  he  developed  them  as  no  one  before  or  no  one  since 
has  done.  He  saw  clearly  the  folly  of  attempting  to  foster 
incompleteness  in  art,  and  maintained  that  no  art  deserved  the 
name  of  art  unless  it  was  perfectly  rounded  ;  so  he  made  opera 
the  vehicle  not  merely  for  pretty  voices,  but  for  the  highest 
forms  of  music.  Wagner  is  to  music  what  Shakespeare  is 
to  the  drama.  His  theories  have  now  been  widely  accepted, 
his  example  followed  by  many  imitators,  and  there  is  no  doubt 

ao6 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


that  the   future  development  of  music  will   be   on   the   lines   he 
has  laid  down. 

"  The  Americans,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said 
to  the  contrary,  are  a  musical  people.  Their  taste  is  still  un- 
formed, but  it  is  naturally  a  good  one  and  is  sure  to  grow  in 
the  right  direction.  But  in  order  to  grow  in  the  right  direction 
it  must  be  properly  cultivated.  It  has  thus  far  been  sufficiently 
developed  to  enable  them  to  appreciate  the  superiority  of  the 
new  methods  in  music  over  the  old.  What  has  already  been 
achieved  is  remarkable  when  one  considers  the  disadvantages 
which  retard  the  progress  of  music  in  this  country.  Whenever 
operas  have  been  given  they  have  been  almost  invariably  sung 
in  an  alien  tongue.  This  is  of  course  a  great  obstacle  to  their 
appreciation.  No  satisfactory  artistic  results  can  be  achieved 
here,  nor  can  America  produce  any  national  music,  until  opera 
is  given  in  English.  I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  American 
composers  shall  produce  great  operatic  wori^s  of  a  distinctly 
original  character  written  in  the  vernacular  ;  but  until  that  time 
comes  I  believe  that  such  foreign  works  as  are  performed  here 
should  be  translated  into  English.  The  achievements  of  such 
American  composers  as  Professor  J.  K.  Paine,  who  has  done 
admirable  work,  of  E.  A.  McDowell,  whose  compositions  seem 
to  me  to  be  superior  to  those  of  Brahms,  of  G.  W.  Chadwick, 
Templeton  Strong,  and  others,  augur  well  for  the  future  produc- 
tions of  American  composers.  The  unsatisfactory  condition  of 
our  musical  culture  is  due  chiefly  to  the  intermittent  opportuni- 
ties which  are  given  here  for  musical  education.  It  would  be 
folly  to  expect  people  to  form  a  healthy  musical  taste  simply  by 
hearing  operas  occasionally  produced  and  almost  always  in  an 
inadequate  manner.  Besides,  such  operas  as  we  hear  are  gener- 
ally given  under  alien  conditions,  which  make  them  foreign  to 

207 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


the  American  mind.  The  singers  whom  America  imports  in 
such  large  numbers  from  abroad  do  undoubtedly  a  great  deal  of 
good,  but  they  also  do  harm,  for  they  bring  influences  which  are 
essentially  un-American. 

"  What  we  need  is  American  opera  given  under  American 
influences.  This  can  be  brought  about  only  by  an  elaborate 
and  well-organized  system  of  musical  education.  We  have 
plenty  of  good  material  for  the  making  of  musicians,  but  this 
material  is  buried  beneath  the  army  of  foreign  artists  who  come 
annually  to  our  shores,  and  whom  Americans  have  formed  the 
habit  of  encouraging — often  simply  because  they  are  foreigners. 
In  order  to  bring  out  this  latent  material,  a  school  for  opera 
should  be  established  here.  If  conducted  on  the  best  principles, 
it  would  be  of  inestimable  advantage.  It  would  keep  at  home 
those  young  musicians  who  annually  go  abroad  to  study,  some- 
times under  the  greatest  disadvantages,  and  would  encourage 
those  to  undertake  a  musical  education  who  are  deterred  from  it 
by  the  expense  which  they  would  incur  by  European  training. 
The  school  should  not  only  train  singers,  but  also  young  men 
ambitious  to  become  orchestra-players  and  orchestra-leaders. 
There  should  be  in  connection  with  it  a  theatre  in  which  operas 
might  be  produced.  The  institution  would  thus  be  a  practical 
school  for  opera.  The  first  year  after  its  establishment  should 
be  spent  in  fundamental  training.  Private  performances  of 
opera  should  be  given,  but  no  public  ones  until  the  artists  had 
been  thoroughly  disciplined.  As  soon  as  this  was  accomplished, 
three  or  four  operas  might  be  publicly  produced  each  year. 
Native  singers  would  thus  have  the  advantage  of  being  heard 
under  the  most  favorable  conditions,  and  native  instrumentalists 
would  display  their  talent  in  the  orchestra ;  we  need,  especially, 
'  a  better  training  in  this  country  for  orchestra-leaders.    American 

20g 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


composers,  too,  would  be  greatly  helped,  for  the  school  should 
endeavor  to  encourage  them,  not  by  ignoring  works  written  by 
foreigners,  but  by  giving  preference  to  operas  written  by  Ameri- 
cans. If  it  were  possible  to  raise  a  guarantee  fund  for  such  an 
establishment,  splendid  results  might  be  obtained  in  a  very  short 
time. 

"  Such  a  plan  as  I  have  suggested  may  seem  impracticable, 
but  I  am  convinced  that  if  it  were  carried  out  under  the  best 
auspices,  that  is,  controlled  by  persons  who  had  the  interest  of 
music  at  heart,  it  would  surely  be  a  success.  But  if  it  were  con- 
trolled simply  by  the  rich  who  regarded  music  as  a  mere  diver- 
sion, it  would  surely  be  a  failure.  America  is  a  great  country 
but  it  has  as  yet  done  very  little  in  the  arts.  Nevertheless, 
there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  develop  an  individual 
musical  art  which  should  compare  favorably  with  that  of  Ger- 
many or  France  or  Italy.  Such  an  institution  would  be  of 
immense  benefit  if  it  only  taught  us  to  cease  aping  the  French 
and  Italian  peculiarities  and  to  work  on  individual  lines.  Let 
us,  by  all  means,  assimilate  what  is  best  in  German,  French,  and 
Italian  art,  but  we  can  do  this  without  being  enslaved  by  any 
one  of  them  ;  and  let  us  endeavor  to  express  our  own  natures, 
which  is,  after  all,  the  only  means  of  attaining  that  highest  and 
best  of  qualities,  originality." 

CUTS   IN   THE   NIBELUNG   TRILOGY 

"  Much  has  been  said  lately  about  cuts  and  about  the  ex- 
cessive length  of  the  Wagner  operas.  Although  I  was  willing 
to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  public  by  reducing  these  operas  to  four 
hours,  I  did  this  really  with  a  heavy  heart.  The  public  may 
believe  me  when  I  say  that  any  cut,  no  matter  how  short,  does 
not  save  as  much  time  as  will  compensate  for  the  less  thorough 

209 


ANTON       SEIDI.   A       MEMORIAL 


understanding  of  the  opera  therefrom  resulting.  Taking  as  an 
example  in  the  second  act  of  the  Walkure,  the  much-decried  nar- 
rative of  Wotan,  I  declare  that  the  spectators  who  hear  nothing, 
or  only  a  part  of  this  narrative,  cannot  get  at  the  very  kernel  of 
the  whole  opera,  which  lies  in  that  narrative.  The  public  can 
in  that  case  appreciate  the  beauty  of  the  music  alone.  The 
action  is  unfolded  before  its  eyes,  but  the  "  why  "  of  the  plot  is 
not  made  clear.  I  know  a  good  many  highly  cultured  friends 
of  music,  musicians  themselves,  who  were  unable  to  narrate  to 
me  correctly  the  plot  of  the  Walkure.  And  yet  here  come  per- 
sons who  ask  me  to  reduce  the  evenings  to  three  hours  each. 
To  such  a  request  no  answer  is  possible." 

A        SCENE        IN        THE       GOTTERUAMMERUNG 

"  I  have  heard  that  various  persons  have  expressed  the 
opinion  that  the  two  scenes  in  the  last  act  of  the  Gdtterddmmer- 
ung  representing  Walhalla  with  Wotan  and  the  Gods  who  are 
expecting  their  end  and  the  all-reconciling  Briinnhilde  are  not  in 
the  Wagnerian  style.  I  agree  that  the  figures  by  themselves  do 
not  present  the  situation  as  correctly  as  does  the  music  of  the 
orchestra,  but  as  an  explanation  of  the  music  they  are  quite  in 
their  proper  place.  The  text-book  used  at  the  Metropolitan 
contains,  besides  other  errors,  only  the  laconic  phrase:  "  A  north- 
ern light  appears  in  the  sky,"  but  in  the  orchestral  and  vocal 
scores  Wagner's  scenic  directions  are  printed  too. 

"  The  omission  of  these  directions  has  led  some  persons  into 
the  error  of  declaring  things  to  be  un- Wagnerian  that  were  pre- 
scribed by  Wagner  himself. 

"  Briinnhilde's  address  to  the  men,  which  was  said  to  have 
been  '  cut '  here,  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  never  composed  for 
the  public." 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


FAFNER      S        DEATH 


"Every  time  that  the  dragon  scene  is  enacted  on  the  stage  I 
see,  in  different  parts  of  the  house,  smiles  of  contempt  or  expres- 
sions of  surprise  at  the  childishness  of  the  idea  of  making  a 
dragon  sing.  These  people  I  should  like  to  take  to  Munich 
where  the  part  of  Fafner  is  sung  by  the  veteran  Kindermann  ; 
seldom  have  I  heard  anything  more  pathetic  on  the  stage  than 
the  song  of  the  dying  dragon.  Not  only  I,  who  might  be  ac- 
cused of  partiality,  but  the  whole  audience  were  carried  away  by 
sympathy  and  pity  to  such  an  extent  that  I  saw  tears  rolling 
down  many  cheeks.  I  never  saw  the  death  of  Fafner,  the  last  of 
his  race,  enacted  more  pathetically  than  by  this  artist." 

Siegfried's     narrative 

"  I  often  heard,  to  cite  another  example,  that  many  do  not 
realize  the  import  of  Siegfried's  narrative  in  the  third  act  of  the 
Gbtterd'dmmerung,  and  that  the  singer's  method  seems  to  be  the 
source  of  the  misunderstanding.  In  this  scene  Siegfried  relates 
reminiscences  of  his  childhood  days.  He  also  mentions  the 
most  remarkable  occurrence  of  his  life  when,  in  consequence  of 
having  moistened  his  lips  with  dragon's  blood,  he  learned  to 
understand  the  speech  of  the  birds.  Now  it  is  of  course  quite 
unnatural  for  Siegfried  here  to  imitate  the  voice  of  the  bird. 
He  merely  tells  the  men  what  the  bird  sang.  What  can  have 
induced  certain  singers  when  they  come  t»  this  most  serious  part 
of  the  narrative  relating  to  the  language  •f  the  bird,  t»  make  use 
of  an  utterly  unnatural  comic  falsetto  t«ne,  as  if  t«  make  it  seem 
as  if  a  bird's  voice  might  be  imitated  by  a  ten«r  ?  Many  people 
are,  perhaps,  pleased  with  such  a  trick  which  brings  the  singer  to 
the  foreground  improperly  at  the  expense  of  the  hero  Siegfried, 
who  did  not  twitter  the  words  of  the  bird  to  the  men,  but  told 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


them  in  a  simple  manner  what  the  bird  had  sung.  The  accom- 
panying music  conveys  plainly  enough  the  meaning  of  the  song. 
By  his  treatment  of  this  narrative  Niemann  proved  in  New  York 
not  only  how  great  he  is  as  singer  and  as  actor,  but  how  much 
he  is  ahead  of  other  artists  in  his  comprehension  of  Wagner's 
works.      His  is  a  narrative  worthy  of  a  hero  !  " 

ORCHESTRA       AND       SINGER 

"  As  a  proof  that  the  singer's  voice  need  not  always  be  tied 
up  with  the  orchestra,  I  will  cite  the  well-known  love  song  in  the 
first  act  of  Die  IValkure  which  ends  in  the  orchestra  pianissimo  but 
is  sung  by  the  vocalist  with  exuberant  joy  and  vernal  vivacity.  I 
might  similarly  indicate  many  things  which  are  in  no  wise  noted 
in  the  score  and  can  only  be  read  between  the  lines  by  such  as 
have  penetrated  the  nature  of  these  mysteries.  What  must  here 
be  read  between  the  lines  is  what  I  call  style.  The  Nibelung  Cycle 
is  now  produced  in  every  land.  Its  measure  of  success  is  in  exact 
ratio  with  the  style  in  which  it  is  produced. 

"  I  believe  that  I  am  not  talking  pro  domo  in  asserting  that 
the  New  York  public  has  reason  to  be  more  than  satisfied  with 
the  local  production  of  the  Nibelung's  Ring.  Here  and  there  a 
part  might  possibly  have  a  stronger  impersonator,  a  scenic  effect 
be  more  clearly  produced,  a  change  of  scenery  more  promptly 
made,  but  as  a  whole  no  one  will  be  able  to  assert  that  the  pro- 
ductions were  not  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  master's  inten- 
tion. So  when  any  one  asserts  that  in  "Tristan.,  for  example,  I 
allow  the  orchestra  to  drown  the  voices  of  the  singers,  he  is 
guilty  of  malicious  misrepresentation,  which  may  have  been 
originated  by  a  spectator  who  sat  in  a  front  seat  of  the  parquet 
immediately  behind  the  trombones.  As  I  cannot  let  the  men 
play  pianissimo  during  the  whole   evening,  and  the  orchestra  is 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


not  played  for  the  benefit  of  certain  seats,  I  can  only  advise 
said  spectators  to  sit  a  few  seats  further  back.  That  the  covered 
orchestra  at  Bayreuth  obviates  all  such  objections  anybody  who 
has  been  present  at  the  performances  in  that  place  knows  as  well 
as  I  do." 

SCHUMANN        AND       WAGNER 

Before  we  pass  on  to  the  great  essay  on  Conducting,  I  wish 
to  cite  part  of  a  letter  which  Mr.  Seidl  wrote  to  me  under  date 
of  January  2,  1894.  It  throws  light  on  a  much-discussed  inci- 
dent. Wagner  was  bitterly  censured,  because,  as  his  enemies 
alleged,  he  had  inspired,  or  even  written,  the  attack  on  Schu- 
mann's music  which  appeared  in  the  Bayreuther  Blatter,  under 
the  name  of  Joseph  Rubinstein.  In  reply  to  a  question  of  mine 
as  to  whether  there  was  any  truth  in  this  accusation,  Mr.  Seidl 
wrote  as  follows  : 

"  If  Wagner  had  not  considered  it  beneath  his  dignity  to 
answer  the  contemptible  accusations  or  insinuations  made  at  the 
time,  he  would  have  done  so.  I  was  at  Bayreuth,  in  Wagner's 
house,  shortly  before  the  notorious  article  of  Joseph  Rubinstein 
appeared  in  the  Bayreuther  Blatter.  And  previous  to  that  time, 
on  many  occasions,  Wagner  had  expressed  himself  in  the  most 
appreciative  terms  in  regard  to  Schumann's  Manfred,  and  even 
the  opera  Genoveva ;  he  spoke  of  Manfred  as  the  product  of  a 
genuinely  creative  mind,  which,  however,  like  Mendelssohn's 
Midsummer-Night' s  Dream  music,  was  unfortunately  not  equaled 
by  the  later  works  of  these  composers — an  opinion  which,  I 
need  not  say,  is  shared  by  many.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  self- 
evident  that  Wagner,  the  energetic,  the  hero  whose  mind  was 
strengthened  by  the  steel  rhythms  of  Beethoven's  symphonies, 
could  not  sympathize  with  the  dreamy  character  of  Schumann's 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


symphonies.  I  remember  his  speaking  one  day  to  a  group  of 
friends  about  the  so-called  Rhenish  symphony,  which  was  based 
on  a  definite  idea — particularly  the  solemn  section  relating  to 
the  cathedral — and  also  about  the  transition  to  the  last  move- 
ment of  the  D  minor  symphony.  This  proves  once  more  that 
Wagner,  as  is  well  known,  always  searched  for  the  idea  under- 
lying a  composition,  and  naturally,  therefore — and  rightly,  from 
his  point  of  view — spoke  only  of  works,  or  parts  of  works,  in 
which  he  found  such  an  underlying  idea.  He  had  been  led  by 
Beethoven  to  do  that — can  anyone  blame  him  for  that  ?  Or  is 
not  Wagner  a  genius,  in  whom  one  must  pardon  such  a  weak- 
ness— if  it  were  a  weakness,  which  it  is  not  ?  Have  not  all 
composers  their  weak  points  ? 

"  And  now  let  me  add,  that  it  often  happened  with  refer- 
ence to  the  articles  sent  to  Hans  von  Wolzogen,  the  editor  of 
the  Bayreuther  Blatter,  that  Wagner  did  not  see  them  till  after 
they  had  appeared  in  print,  and  was  taken  by  surprise.  In  the 
case  of  the  Schumann  article,  likewise,  he  did  not  take  the  initi- 
ative. Joseph  Rubinstein,  who  was  pursuing  his  studies  in 
Bayreuth  at  that  time  (and  who  is  not  related  to  the  two  great 
Rubinsteins),  occasionally  picked  up  stray  remarks  that  Wagner 
dropped  in  conversation,  and  which  he  only  half  understood. 
These  undigested  remarks  he  worked  up  into  an  article  which 
Wagner  found  to  be  as  indigestible  as  others  did.  Bismarck 
exclaimed  once  that  a  German  fears  no  one  but  God.  Well, 
was  not  Wagner,  too,  a  man  who  might  have  said  that  every  day 
in  his  life  ?  If  he  had  entertained  the  ideas  on  Schumann  which 
are  embodied  in  that  article  he  would  most  certainly  have  put 
them  down  in  his  own  name,  without  borrowing  the  pen  of  a 
dyspeptic  musician.""' 

*  I  have  also  a  letter  from  Hans  von  Wolzogen,  vfhich  confirms  the  substance  of 
Anton  Seidl's  letter. 


FROM       A       PHOTOGRAPH       BY         EUGENE 


Anton  Seidl  Conducting 
1895 


ANTON      SEIDL  —  A       MEMORIAL 


ON     CONDUCTING^ 


BY       ANTON        SEIDL 

CONDUCTING  !  A  subject,  truly,  concerning  which  much 
might  be  written,  yet  scarcely  anything  of  real  importance 
is  to  be  found  in  books.  Urged  by  the  misconception  of  his  works 
by  conductors,  Richard  Wagner  once  took  up  the  pen  to  expose 
some  of  the  most  grievous  offences  against  his  intentions.  Berlioz 
also  gave  a  few  hints.  A  few  guides,  or  "  Complete  Conductors," 
have  appeared  in  print,  but  these,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  are  no  longer 
taken  seriously.  The  explanation  of  the  fact  that  so  little  has 
been  written  about  conducting  is  exceedingly  simple  and  natural. 
The  ability  to  conduct  is  a  gift  of  God  with  which  few  have  been 
endowed  in  full  measure.  Those  who  possess  only  a  little  of 
the  gift  cannot  write  about  it,  and  those  who  have  it  in  abund- 
ance do  not  wish  to  write,  for  to  them  the  talent  seems  so  natural 
a  thing  that  they  cannot  see  the  need  of  discussing  it.  This  is 
the  kernel  of  the  whole  matter.  If  you  have  the  divine  gift  within 
you,  you  can  conduct ;  and  if  you  have  it  not,  you  will  never  be 
able  to  acquire  it.  Those  who  have  been  endowed  with  the  gift 
are  conductors,  the  others  are  time-beaters. 

Happy  were  the  composers  who  were  in  a  position  to  bring 
their  own  works  forward,  as  did  Haydn,  Mozart,  Beethoven, 
Berlioz,  Mendelssohn,  and,  on  occasion,  Wagner  and  Liszt  in 
Dresden,  Weimar,  and  Bayreuth.  Later,  when  theatres,  concert 
rooms,  and  orchestras  sprang  up  like  mushrooms,  when  the  cul- 
tivation of  music  became  more  and  more  general,  the  importance 
of  conductors  grew  to  dimensions  never  before  dreamed  of. 
The  composers  could  no  longer  direct  all  performances  in  per- 

*  From  The  Music  of  the  Modern  IVorld.      Edited  by  Anton  Seidl,  Fannie  Morris 
Smith,  H.  E.  Krehbiel  and  W.  S.  Howard.  Copyrighted,  1895,  by  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

215 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


son,  and  so  the  responsibility  of  interpreting  their  works  in  the 
spirit  in  which  they  had  been  conceived  was  placed  upon  con- 
ductors. But  music  went  forward  with  such  gigantic  strides, 
great  composers  followed  one  after  the  other  so  rapidly,  that  it 
became  obvious  that  there  was  a  lack  of  men  to  whom  had  been 
given  the  conductor's  gift.  There  was  not  even  time  thoroughly 
to  assimilate  the  great  compositions,  and  the  traditional  manner 
of  performing  them  was  lost.  Tradition,  that  confessed  screen 
of  ignorance  and  impotence,  became  a  myth  and  served  as  an 
excuse  for  time-beaters  who  lacked  the  gift.  There  are  still 
time-beaters  of  this  description  who  have  survived  the  earlier 
period,  but  their  screen  is  worn  threadbare. 

Now  we  see  approach  a  younger  generation  free  from  preju- 
dice, innocent  of  tradition,  thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  but 
conscious  of  the  divine  spark  within  them.  The  young  men 
plunge  joyfully  into  the  whirlpool  of  study,  pry  deeply  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  gigantic  works  reserved  for  them,  plunge  into 
the  spectral  world  inhabited  by  music's  heroes,  receive  the  con- 
secrating greetings  of  the  masters,  and  give  new  life  to  the  things 
which  they  have  found  and  felt.  They  have  made  their  influ- 
ence tell ;  a  refreshing,  invigorating  breeze  blows  through  the 
corridors  of  music.  Among  the  apostles  of  the  Church  each  had 
his  own  wav  of  teaching,  his  own  way  of  proclaiming  the  gospel, 
but  all  brought  blessings  to  mankind.  Up  then,  young  men — 
up  to  your  great  task  !  Have  you  looked  upon  the  faces  of  our 
teachers  ?  Proclaim  it !  Have  you  grasped  their  Titanic 
thoughts,  deciphered  their  mystic  hieroglyphs  ?  Proclaim  the 
fact  !  Have  you  received  God's  gift  of  conducting  ?  How 
many  time-beaters  are  there  among  you  ?  Away  with  them  ! 
for  Edison  could,  if  he  would,  invent  an  apparatus  that  would 
be  much  more  precise. 

zi6 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Let  me  direct  your  attention,  young  men  with  the  divine 
gift,  to  a  thing  which  most  of  you  seem*  to  ignore,  or  to  have 
never  dreamed  of.  You  may  know  Wagner's  work  never  so  well 
by  heart,  you  may  have  studied  and  conducted  Berlioz,  the  other 
Frenchmen,  and  modern  Italians  (not  excepting  the  classic  Verdi) 
never  so  successfully,  your  model  performances  shall  still  be  in- 
complete if  you  do  not  understand  the  art  of  blending  the  scenic 
action  with  the  music  and  song.  Most  of  you  are  too  exclusively 
musicians.  You  direct  your  efforts  almost  wholly  to  the  work- 
ing out  of  details.  The  result  is  a  good  musical  performance, 
but  frequently,  nevertheless,  one  that  breeds  constant  misunder- 
standings and  confusion,  because  it  is  not  in  harmony  with  the 
scenic  action.  The  public  hears  one  thing  and  sees  another. 
The  secret  of  a  performance  correct  in  style  and  perfectly  under- 
stood— the  only  proper  performance,  in  short — is  a  complete 
blending  of  stage,  orchestra,  machinery,  light  effects,  singers,  con- 
ductor, stage  hands,  chorus — of  everything  that  contributes  to 
the  representation.  It  is,  therefore,  my  own  belief,  based  upon 
experience,  that  he  is  the  most  successful  and  effective  conductor 
— in  other  words,  he  is  the  real  conductor  from  the  composer's 
point  of  view — who  is  as  thoroughly  versed  in  the  technical 
science  of  the  stage  as  he  is  in  music.  Long  before  the  stage 
rehearsals  began  at  Bayreuth  the  master,  Wagner,  said  to  me  : 
"  My  boy,  you  must  help  me  on  the  stage,  behind  the  scenes. 
You  and  your  colleague  Fischer  (now  Hofkapellmeister  in 
Munich)  must  assume  responsibility  on  the  stage  for  everything 
that  has  anything  to  do  with  the  music — that  is,  you  must  act  as 
a  sort  of  musical  stage-manager.  You  will  see  the  importance 
of  this  yourself,  and  you  will  find  that  it  will  be  of  infinite  effect 
upon  your  future  as  a  conductor."  Later  we  were  joined  by 
MottI    (now   director  of   the   Court   Opera  at   Carlsruhe),  and 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


naturally  we  undertook  the  unique  work  with  tremendous  en- 
thusiasm. Wagner  was  wont  playfully  to  call  us  his  three 
Rhine-daughters,  for  the  first  rehearsal  under  his  care  was  de- 
voted to  the  first  scene  of  Das  Rheingold.  I  was  in  charge  of  the 
first  wagon  which  carried  Lilli  Lehmann  who  sang  the  part  of 
Woglinde.  Little  did  I  suspect  that  in  after  years  Lilli  would  sing 
the  part  of  Brunnhilde  under  my  direction.  Mottl  managed  the 
second  wagon  with  Marie  Lehmann,  and  Fischer  the  third  with 
Fraulein  Lammert,  of  Berlin.  These  machines  we  were  obliged 
to  drag  hither  and  thither,  raising  and  lowering  the  singers  mean- 
while for  six  hours  the  first  rehearsal.  The  master  was  tired  out 
and  we  three  could  scarcely  move  leg  or  arm  ;  but  the  one  re- 
hearsal sufficed  to  make  me  understand  what  Wagner  had  said 
to  me,  and  its  bearing  on  my  future.  I  learned  to  know  the 
meaning  of  every  phrase,  every  violin  figure,  every  sixteenth 
note.  I  learned,  too,  how  it  was  possible  with  the  help  of  the 
picture  and  action  to  transform  an  apparently  insignificant  violin 
passage  into  an  incident,  and  to  lift  a  simple  horn  call  into  a 
thing  of  stupendous  significance  by  means  of  scenic  emphasis. 
But,  it  will  be  urged,  all  this  is  indicated  in  the  score  ;  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  carry  out  the  printed  directions.  But 
they  are  not  carried  out,  and  if,  perchance,  there  comes  a  stage 
manager  of  the  better  class — who  understands  and  respects  the 
wishes  of  the  composer — it  happens  only  too  often  that  he  is 
not  musical  enough  to  bring  about  the  union  of  picture  and 
music  at  the  right  time  and  place.  The  swimming  of  the 
Rhine-daughters  is  carried  out  very  well  at  most  of  the  larger 
theatres,  but  the  movements  of  the  nixies  do  not  illustrate  the 
accompanying  music.  Frequently  the  fair  one  rises  while  a 
descending  violin  passage  is  playing,  and  again  to  the  music  of 
hurried  upward  passages  she  sinks  gently  to  the  bottom  of  the 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


river.  Neither  is  it  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the  move- 
ments of  the  Rhine-daughters  be  fast  or  slow.  At  a  majority 
of  the  theatres  this  is  treated  as  a  matter  of  no  consequence, 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  the  public  are  utterly  bewildered  by 
such  contradictions  between  what  they  see  and  what  they  hear. 
Wagner  often  said  to  me,  "My  dear  friend,  give  your  attention 
to  the  stage,  following  my  scenic  directions,  and  you  will  hit 
the  right  thing  in  the  music  without  a  question."  This,  you  will 
observe,  is  the  very  opposite  of  what  you  young  conductors 
are  doing  to-day.  I  remember  on  one  occasion  hearing  the 
break  of  a  lightning  flash  ritardando  in  the  orchestra,  while  on 
the  stage  the  bolt  was  indicated  surprisingly  well.  This  was  in  the 
beginning  of  Die  Walkiire.  The  musician  (or  better,  perhaps, 
the  educated  time-beater)  aimed  to  meddle  with  Nature's  per- 
formance of  her  own  trade  by  introducing  his  nicely-executed 
ritardando,  but  succeeded  only  in  proving  that  the  stage  hand 
who  manipulated  the  lightning  had  more  intelligence  than  he. 
If  the  musician  had  kept  his  eyes  on  the  stage  instead  of  on  the 
score  he  would  have  seen  his  blunder,  he  would  have  become  a 
more  careful  observer  of  natural  phenomena. 

Another  case:  In  the  first  scene  oi Die  Walkiire  httw&en 
Siegmund,  Sieglinde  and  afterwards  Hunding,  there  are  a  great 
number  of  little  interludes — dainty,  simple,  and  melodic  in 
manner.  Now,  if  the  conductor  is  unable  to  explain  the  meaning 
of  these  little  interludes  to  the  singers,  he  cannot  associate  them 
with  the  requisite  gestures,  changes  of  facial  expression  and  even 
steps,  and  the  scene  is  bound  to  make  a  painfully  monotonous 
impression.  No  effect  is  possible  here  with  the  music  alone. 
Let  me  also  moot  a  question  of  the  greatest  importance  to  all 
performances  in  their  external  effect — the  question  of  tempi.  It 
is  simple  nonsense  to  speak  of  the  fixed  tempo  of  any  particular 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


vocal  phrase.  Each  voice  has  its  pecuHarities.  One  singer  has 
a  soft,  flexible  voice  to  which  distinct  enunciation  is  easy  ;  another 
has  a  heavy,  metallic  voice  which  sometimes  requires  a  longer 
period  for  its  full  development,  or  is  compelled  to  sing  a  phrase 
slower  than  the  other,  in  order  to  achieve  the  same  dramatic 
effect  and  distinctness.  It  was  Wagner's  habit  to  study  and  test 
the  voices  placed  at  his  disposal,  so  as  to  discover  the  means 
which  must  be  employed  to  make  them  reach  the  purpose 
designed.  His  tempo  marks,  so  far  as  they  refer  to  the  voice,  are 
warnings  against  absolutely  false  conceptions — not  rigid  pre- 
scriptions— for  time-beaters  who  follow  them  would  be  obliged 
to  force  the  most  varied  organs  into  one  unyielding  mold.  Of 
course,  the  liberty  thus  given  must  not  be  abused,  but  used  with 
wisdom  and  discretion  for  the  securing  of  distinctness.  The 
admonition  which  Wagner  gave  over  and  over  again  was,  "  Be 
distinct ;  speak  and  sing  clearly  ;  the  little  notes  are  the  most 
important  ones,  the  big  ones  will  take  care  of  themselves  ;  always 
be  distinct  and  the  rest  will  follow  of  its  own  accord."  These 
are  golden  words  which  every  conductor  ought  always  to  keep 
in  view,  even  while  conducting  orchestral  compositions. 

Another  thing :  Do  not  let  your  singers  scream.  This 
everlasting  forcing  of  the  voice  seems  to  have  become  almost 
the  second  nature  of  German  singers.  We  scarcely  ever  hear 
on  the  stage  nowadays,  Blick  ich  umher  in  diesem  edlen  Kreise  in 
a  dreamy,  restrained  tone,  or  a  poetical,  ethereal  O  du  mien  holder 
Abendstern  !  or  a  whispered  Lass  ich's  verlauten  Ids  ich  dann  nicht 
meines  Willen's  haltenden  Haft  (Wotan),  or  a  playful  Du  h'drst 
nicht  drauf,  so  sprich  doch  jetzt,  hast  mir's  ja  selbst  in  den  Kopf 
gesetzt  murmured  into  the  ear  of  Eva.  All  this  is  sung  with 
full  voice,  as  if  the  purpose  were  to  sing  everybody  else  to  death. 
Listen  to  the  representations  of  Wotan  if  you  want  to  hear  how 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


they  ignore  Wagner's  frequent  injunction,  "  To  be  sung  in  almost 
totally  suppressed  tone,"  or  to  the  Walther  von  Stolzings  and 
hear  them  scream  the  wondrous  passages  in  the  Prize  Song, 
Dort  unter  einem  Wunderbaum,  or  T)ort  unter  einem  Lorbeerbaum, 
which  are  marked  "  As  if  in  a  complete  ecstacy  "  and  "  piano." 
Nor  does  it  occur  to  them  to  retard  the  tempo  a  trifle.  Every- 
thing is  sung  as  if  it  were  made  over  one  and  the  same  last. 
Moreover,  our  Briinnhildes  utilize  the  passage  tVar  es  so 
schmdhlich  was  ich  verbrach  for  exhibition  purposes  as  if  to  re- 
buke, as  early  as  possible,  Wagner's  injunction,  "  To  be  begun 
timidly."  The  manner  in  which  the  scene  of  the  Nornir  is 
given,  if  at  all,  is  simply  laughable  and  scandalous.  Similar 
offences  against  Wagner  might  be  adduced  by  the  bookful. 
The  scenic  arrangements,  or  rather  disarrangements,  are  so  out- 
rageous that  one  asks  whether  it  is  manifold  stupidity  or  culpable 
carelessness  with  which  one  is  called  on  to  deal.  As  matters 
stand  at  present  help  is  only  to  be  expected  from  conductors 
who  have  the  divine  gift.  Stage  managers  will  not  become  more 
musical,  and  hence  conductors  must  devote  themselves 
more  to  the  stage  that  the  purposes  of  the  composers  may 
be  better  realized.  Conductors  who  successfully  study  the 
stage  will  be  able  to  do  something  more  for  the  singers  than 
to  drum  the  notes  of  their  parts  into  their  heads.  Moreover, 
it  would  seem  to  be  the  duty  of  conductors  to  acquire  a  better 
and  more  refined  taste  in  phrasing.  Of  course,  there  must  exist 
a  natural  talent  for  this  also,  but  one  may  benefit  very  much  by 
frequent  hearing  of  really  great  singers  and  by  persistent  study. 
The  German  singers  of  to-day  have  no  idea  how  much  they  mis- 
lead and  bore  people  when  they  persist  in  singing  "  straight 
from  the  shoulder,"  as  is  their  favorite  fashion.  Unless  the 
conductor  wisely  interferes  here  the  notion — not  altogether  false — 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


that  the  Germans  do  not  know  how  to  sing  will  take  long- 
enduring  root  to  the  great  injury  of  the  German  dramatic  art. 
I  have  often  heard  the  statement  made  by  foreign  singers,  as 
a  demonstrated  fact,  that  the  German  artists  are  artists  in  feeling 
indeed,  and  serious  in  their  devotion,  but  that  their  singing  is 
crude.  I  am  almost  forced  to  agree  to  this  view.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  have  heard  from  a  German  colleague  of  Jean  de  Reszke 
derogatory  remarks  concerning  that  tenor.  I  give  the  assur- 
ance that  there  was  much  for  the  German  to  learn  from  the  great 
Jean,  especially  his  wonderful  art  of  phrasing  and  his  tasteful 
declamation.  The  criticism  of  his  colleague  only  proved  that  he 
had  no  ear  for  phrasing.  All  who  were  closely  associated  with 
Wagner  remember  how  impressively  and  with  what  a  variety  of 
voices  he  was  able  to  sing  the  different  roles  for  those  who  had 
been  chosen  to  interpret  them,  and  how  marvelously  he  phrased 
them  all.  It  is  also  known,  alas  !  how  few  artists  are  able  to  imi- 
tate him.  It  always  makes  me  sad  when  I  think  of  how  I  saw 
Wagner  wasting  his  vitality,  not  only  by  singing  their  parts 
to  some  of  his  artists,  but  acting  out  the  smallest  details,  and  of 
how  few  they  were  who  were  responsive  to  his  wishes.  Those 
who  can  recall  the  rehearsals  for  The  Ring  of  the  Nibelung  and 
afterwards  Parsifal,  at  Bayreuth,  will  agree  with  me  that  much 
was  afterwards  forgotten  which  had  laboriously  to  be  thought 
out  in  part  later,  in  which  work  Madame  Cosima  Wagner 
was  wonderfully  helpful.  But  only  the  few  initiated  know  how 
many  of  Wagner's  days  were  wasted  in  useless  study  with  dif- 
ferent Siegfrieds,  Hagens,  Hundings,  Sieglindes,  etc.  I  also  wish 
to  recall  the  rehearsals  for  Tannhduser  and  Lohengrin,  in  Vienna, 
in  1875.  Then  his  was  the  task  of  creating  a  Tannhauser  out 
of  a  bad  Raoul,  of  forming  a  Telramund  out  of  a  singer  to  whom 
had  never  been  assigned  a  half-important  role  ;  and  yet  when. 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


after  a  fair  degree  of  success,  Wagner  asked  for  consideration 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  had  to  do  the  best  he  could  with  ex- 
isting material,  the  critics  fell  upon  him  like  a  flock  of  wolves  and 
dogs  as  a  mark  of  gratitude  for  his  self-sacrificing  exertions. 

But  how  about  conducting  ?  some  may  ask.  As  I  said 
before,  it  is  a  gift  of  God.  A  talented  man  can  learn  the  tech- 
nics of  the  art  in  a  few  days ;  one  without  talent,  never  !  Men 
like  Biilow  and  Tausig  took  the  stand  and  conducted  without 
having  made  any  technical  studies ;  they  had  the  gift.  Hans 
Richter  was  a  horn  player  in  the  orchestra  of  the  Vienna  Opera 
House  when  he  came  to  Wagner  to  copy  scores  and  rehearse 
their  parts  with  the  singers.  Wagner  sent  him  to  Munich  to 
drill  the  chorus  in  Die  Meistersinger ;  then,  after  the  departure 
of  Von  Biilow,  he  undertook  the  production  of  Das  Rhein- 
gold,  but  a  disagreement  with  the  management  prevented  the 
performance.  Enough  ;  he  conducted  without  previous  lessons 
in  conducting.  I  myself,  though  I  made  earnest  studies  of 
Beethoven  and  Wagner  with  Richter  never  was  troubled  with 
technical  practice  in  conducting.  I  went  to  Leipsic  as  Kapell- 
meister, and  out  of  hand  conducted  Der  Freischiitz,  'Titus,  The 
Flying  Dutchman,  Tannhduser,  and  The  Ring  of  the  Nibelung. 
Thus  Sucher,  Mottl,Weingartner,  Strauss,  Mahler,  and  others  be- 
gan, and  in  greater  or  less  degree  they  all  possess  the  divine  gift. 
Of  course,  experience  strengthens  one  later.  For  instance,  once 
in  Munich  I  saw  Levi  conduct  recitatives  so  admirably,  with 
such  remarkable  precision,  that  I  at  once  adopted  his  method 
of  beating  in  similar  passages.  This  may  seem  a  small  matter 
at  first  blush,  as  the  difference  between  it  and  the  methods  of 
others  is  scarcely  noticeable,  but  it  is  a  great  help  to  precision 
and  at  the  same  time  it  promotes  elasticity  in  the  orchestra. 

The  conductor's  gift  does  not  always  go  hand  in  hand  with 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


that  of  composition  ;  indeed,  the  union  is  found  much  more 
seldom  than  is  popularly  believed.  Nor  is  it  associated  always 
with  general  musical  learning.  Composers  are  not  all  good 
conductors.  Saint-Saens  is  one  of  the  best  of  musicians  ;  there 
is  no  orchestral  score  that  he  cannot  read  at  the  pianoforte  with 
ease  ;  but  as  a  conductor  he  has  difficulty  in  making  himself 
intelligible  to  the  orchestra.  Massenet,  admirable  as  an  orches- 
tral technician  and  master  of  the  larger  forms  in  music,  is  noth- 
ing as  conductor.  Schumann,  as  is  generally  known,  played  a 
mournful  part  when  he  stood  before  an  orchestra.  Berlioz  was 
a  marvellous  conductor  of  his  own  works,  but  nil  as  an  inter- 
preter of  the  compositions  of  others.  Liszt  and  his  musicians 
were  frequently  in  entirely  different  regions  while  he  was  con- 
ducting. On  the  other  hand,  Mendelssohn  was  a  fine — perhaps 
a  too  fine — conductor  ;  but  RaflF  was  frightful.  Tschaikowsky 
discovered  himself  here  in  New  York  as  a  fiery,  inspiring  con- 
ductor of  his  own  music.  But  many  composers — Verdi,  for 
example — would  do  well  to  leave  the  performance  of  their  works 
wholly  in  the  hands  of  capable  conductors. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  article  to  teach  conducting, 
but  only  to  make  some  general  observations  on  the  subject. 
Musical  practice  is  too  young  an  art  in  America  to  warrant  a 
search  for  men  with  a  conductor's  gift.  The  art  will  have  to 
become  much  more  stable  before  such  talents  can  arise.  But 
when  music  shall  be  generally  considered  a  real  public  necessity 
there  will  be  no  need  to  worry  about  conductors  of  the  right 
kind  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  shall  be  amazed  at  the  sound  appre- 
ciation, the  natural  talent  which  America  will  disclose.  The 
musical  bent  of  the  Americans  is  retarded  in  its  development 
partly  by  social  conditions,  partly  by  the  need  of  premature 
money-earning.      Here  is  a  field  of  activity  for  wealthy  philan- 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


thropists.  America  does  not  need  gorgeous  halls  and  concert 
rooms  for  its  musical  development,  but  music  schools  with  com- 
petent teachers,  and  many,  very  many,  free  scholarships  for 
talented  young  disciples  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  expense  of 
study.     To  this  subject  I  shall  again  recur. 

II 

WE  are  unable  to  say  with  exactitude  when  and  by  whom 
the  baton  was  introduced  in  the  conducting  of  musical 
performances.  It  is  held  by  some  that  it  was  Mendelssohn, 
in  Leipsic,  and  by  others  that  it  was  Carl  Maria  von  Weber,  in 
Dresden,  who  first  conducted  with  a  baton  and  therebv  caused 
something  of  a  sensation.  Before  then  it  was  the  principal 
violin,  or  so-called  Concertmeister^  who  gave  the  signal  with  a  vio- 
lin bow  to  begin,  and  in  the  course  of  a  performance  kept  the 
players  together  by  occasional  gestures  or  a  few  raps  upon  his 
desk.  In  choral  performances  the  organist  or  pianoforte  player 
was  the  conductor  of  the  choir,  and  the  principal  violin  the  con- 
ductor of  the  orchestra.  In  Vienna  it  was  the  custom  to  have 
even  a  third  conductor  who,  at  choral  performances  of  magni- 
tude, beat  time  with  a  roll  of  paper.  It  can  easily  be  imagined 
that  with  such  a  triumvirate  things  were  frequently  at  sixes  and 
sevens. 

It  may  safely  be  assumed  that  as  soon  as  musical  composi- 
tions grew  in  depth,  in  boldness  and  grandeur,  the  necessity 
was  felt  of  enlisting  a  single  individual  who  should  be  responsible 
for  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  work  and  the  proper  conduct 
of  the  whole.  This  was  but  the  natural  logic  of  the  case.  The 
art  of  music  differs  greatly  from  all  other  arts.  The  painter  con- 
ceives an  idea  and  executes  it  on  canvas ;  there  it  is  embodied 
for  long  periods  of  time  ;  everyone  can  admire  it  in  the  original 

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ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 

just  as  the  painter  himself  created  it.  The  sculptor  conceives 
an  idea  and  executes  it  in  marble ;  everyone  can  admire  it  in  the 
original,  just  as  the  sculptor  himself  created  it.  The  poet  is 
already  in  a  worse  plight ;  he  conceives  an  idea,  puts  it  upon 
paper,  and  leaves  it  to  posterity  ;  his  creation  is  now  either  re- 
created in  the  intelligent  mind  of  the  reader,  or  it  takes  posses- 
sion of  the  elocutionist,  in  which  case  it  depends  entirely  upon 
his  capacity,  or  want  of  capacity,  whether  or  not  it  shall  achieve 
the  effect  contemplated.  In  a  third  case  it  must  be  turned  over 
to  a  group  of  actors,  who  give  it  life  under  the  direction  of  a 
stage  manager ;  in  what  a  variety  of  phases  this  life  may  dis- 
close itself  we  can  learn  by  attending  performances  of  the  same 
drama  in  different  cities  ortheatres.  Howmany  readings  are  there 
of  Hamlet's  "  To  be,  or  not  to  be  "  ?  Perhaps  as  many  as  there 
are  actors  who  play  Hamlet.  Where,  then,  shall  we  look  for  the 
original  meaning  of  a  poem,  for  that  which  the  poet  conceived 
and  executed?  Only  to  the  paper.  We  must  discern  the  spirit 
of  the  poem  and  bring  it  back  to  life. 

Now  take  the  case  of  the  musician.  He  conceives  his  idea 
and  records  it.  But  how  much  larger  is  the  apparatus  which 
he  requires  for  the  production  of  his  work  than  that  of  the  other 
creative  artists  !  Singers  who  are  also  actors  (if  possible),  and 
who  must  have  musical  training  (which  is  not  always  the  case) ; 
musicians  who  can  play  the  necessary  instruments ;  stage 
machinists  ;  painters  for  the  scenery  ;  perhaps  a  comely  young 
ballet  (an  arduous  requirement,  indeed  !)  ;  a  capable  choir  (one 
that  ought  to  sing  in  tune)  ;  a  stage  manager  to  direct  all  the 
doings  behind  the  scenes  ;  finally,  a  conductor  who  really  ought 
to  be  as  musical  as  the  composer  himself  (that  is  surely  asking 
a  good  deal !). 

To  recur  to  the  history  of  the  baton,  it  may  be  asserted 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


that  as  the  difficulties  connected  with  performances  increased,  as 
compositions  grew  in  magnitude,  and  matters  went  more  and  more 
awry  under  the  direction  of  the  principal  violin  (aided  by  his 
assistant  with  the  paper  roll),  the  plan  was  gradually  evolved  of 
putting  everything  in  the  care  of  one  man  and  holding  him 
responsible  for  the  results.  And  thus  the  modern  conductor 
came  into  office,  armed  at  first  with  the  old  roll  of  paper  but  later 
with  a  baton.  Some  of  the  old  violin-players,  like  Spohr  in  Cassel 
and  Habeneck  in  Paris,  clung  to  the  violin  bow ;  but  as  has 
already  been  said,  the  modern  concert  conductor  is  found  wielding 
a  baton,  in  the  case  of  Mendelssohn,  the  modern  theatre  conductor 
in  that  of  Weber ;  and  so  it  remains  to-day. 

The  art-work  created  by  the  composer  must  be  reanimated, 
inspired  with  new  life  by  the  conductor's  intellectual  abilities,  his 
technical  powers,  and  his  recreative  capacity.  How  much  self- 
criticism,  how  much  energy,  how  much  love  for  the  work,  how 
much  study,  how  much  mental  exertion  are  necessary  to  enable 
him  satisfactorily  to  fill  his  reproductive  office  !  The  conductor 
stands  in  the  stead  of  the  composer.  A  gifted  conductor  brings 
it  to  pass  through  the  medium  of  rehearsals  that  every  partici- 
pant, be  he  singer  or  player,  feels  that  he  too  is  a  recreative 
artist,  that  he  too  is  leading  and  directing,  though  he  is  but  fol- 
lowing the  baton.  It  is  this  unconscious  reproduction,  appar- 
ently from  original  impulse  on  the  part  of  the  performer,  which 
is  the  secret  agency  whose  influence  the  conductor  must  exert 
by  the  force  of  his  personality.  A  true  conductor  will  effect  all 
this  at  the  rehearsals,  and  keep  himself  as  inconspicuous  as  pos- 
sible at  the  performances  ;  in  this  lies  the  difference  between  a 
time-beater  and  a  conductor.  There  are  time-beaters  who  wave 
wildly  with  their  hands  and  stamp  loudly  with  their  feet,  yet 
they  accomplish  little  or  nothing.     Of  course,  the  temperament 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


and  other  individual  characteristics  of  a  conductor  have  much  to 
do  with  the  case.  Years  ago,  before  the  opera  had  taken  on  so 
much  of  an  international  character,  its  repertory  was  more  re- 
stricted, and  the  conductor  had  to  struggle  with  a  much  smaller 
variety  of  styles.  Proch,  in  Vienna,  was  a  famous  Meyerbeer 
conductor ;  Esser,  in  the  same  city,  a  respected  Mozart  and 
Gluck  conductor.  For  their  stagione  the  Italians  sent  out  their 
best  maestri ;  thus  Spontini  came  to  Berlin,  and  was  long  the 
supreme  power  at  the  opera  in  that  city.  His  best  achieve- 
ments were  made,  naturally  enough,  in  his  own  operas.  He 
used  two  batons  in  conducting — a  short  one  for  the  arias,  duets, 
etc.,  and  a  very  long  one  for  the  big  choruses  and  pageants  with 
stagehands.  It  is  only  natural,  of  course,  that  Italians  should 
be  the  best  conductors  of  Italian  opera,  Germans  of  German, 
and  Frenchmen  of  French.  Of  late  years  much  more  than  used 
to  be  wont  is  asked  of  our  conductors.  Theatres  whose  means 
do  not  allow  the  luxury  of  more  than  one  conductor,  demand 
of  their  musical  director  that  he  work  to-day  in  the  Lortzing 
smithy,  mount  the  funeral  pyre  to-morrow  with  Siegfried, 
and  be  incarcerated  in  a  madhouse  with  Lucia  the  next 
day.  I  do  not  believe  in  such  versatility  ;  conductors  are  only 
human,  and  either  Lucia  or  Siegfried  will  have  to  suffer.  It  is 
an  unhealthy  state  of  affairs,  and  in  the  best  of  cases  the  public 
will  be  the  loser. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  concert  conductor.  He,  too,  has 
a  great  deal  of  intellectual  and  physical  work  to  do  while  prepar- 
ing a  performance.  The  majority  of  the  public  have  no  idea  of 
the  extent  of  this  work,  for  they  assume  that  the  better  the  or- 
chestra the  lighter  the  labor.  To  an  extent  this  is  indeed  true; 
but  to  evolve  a  picture  of  magnitude  and  completeness  out  of  an 
overture  or  symphony  requires   nevertheless  a   vast   intellectual 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


effort.  There  are  conductors  who  seek  to  bewilder  by  finished 
elaboration  of  detail,  leaving  the  picture  as  a  whole  without  pro- 
portion or  perspective.  Their  accomplishment  is  like  that  of  a 
painter  who  lays  stress  upon  a  magnificent  piece  of  drapery,  a 
single  figure,  or  a  particular  light  effect,  to  the  injury  of  the 
general  impression.  The  elaboration  of  detail  is  felt  to  be  un- 
essential, but  it  distracts  attention  from  the  main  theme.  How 
often  does  a  conductor  err  in  the  gradation  of  colors  !  Very 
often  it  is  the  size  of  the  room  and  its  acoustic  qualities 
that  are  to  blame  for  the  fact  that  the  means  adopted  to  carry 
out  his  idea,  the  means  in  which  his  orchestra  has  been  drilled, 
produce  an  effect  almost  diametrically  opposite  to  his  intentions. 
The  larger  the  room  the  broader  must  be  his  tempi  to  be  under- 
stood in  all  parts  of  the  house.  The  better  the  acoustics  of  the 
room  the  easier  will  be  the  conductor's  task,  the  more  pliant  the 
orchestra.  To  illustrate  :  I  brought  forward  Tristan  und  Isolde 
in  New  York  in  the  season  of  1895-96,  after  the  most  careful 
preparation.  The  orchestral  colors  were  adjusted  for  Jean  and 
Edouard  de  Reszke  and  Madame  Nordica,  whose  voices  were 
always  heard  through  the  instrumental  surge,  as  ought  to  be  the 
case  in  every  respectable  performance  of  a  Wagnerian  drama. 
At  the  Auditorium  in  Chicago  I  was  obliged  to  tone  down  the 
volume  of  the  same  admirable  orchestra  nearly  one-half,  because 
I  discovered  that  the  acoustics  of  the  Auditorium  were  so  excel- 
lent that  the  dynamic  volume  employed  in  New  York  would 
have  drowned  the  singers  beyond  hope  of  rescue.  The  orchestra 
sounded  magical,  and  the  performance  revolutionized  the  ideas 
of  all  the  artists.  In  order  to  make  clear  the  precarious  position 
in  which  a  conductor  sometimes  finds  himself,  I  must  add  that 
I  called  the  orchestra  together  on  the  morning  of  the  day  of  per- 
formance, in   order   to   explain   the   acoustic   conditions   of  the 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


room.  I  rehearsed  nothing;  had  I  begun,  I  should  have  been 
obliged  to  play  all  the  music.  The  men  understood  my  explana- 
tion, and  in  the  evening  played  with  an  insinuating  delicacy,  with 
such  a  nice  adjustment  of  tone  that  to  hear  them  was  a  marvel, 
and  one  would  have  thought  that  they  had  spent  years  of  study 
in  the  Auditorium.  Now  it  is  true  that  this  was  an  exhibition 
of  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  on  the  part  of  the  orchestra,  but 
without  the  quick  recognition  of  conditions  on  the  part  of  the 
conductor  the  performance  would  nevertheless  have  resulted 
differently. 

I  must  now  reiterate  that  since  musical  compositions,  whether 
through  the  influence  of  Wagner  or  any  other  master,  have 
grown  to  be  more  homogeneous  and  profound  in  their  content — 
have,  in  a  word,  gained  in  delineative  purpose — the  relation  of 
the  conductor  toward  the  orchestra  has  also  grown  more  signifi- 
cant. The  best  orchestra  in  the  world  will  make  but  a  fleeting 
if  not  an  utterly  insignificant  impression  in  the  hands  of  an  in- 
efficient conductor.  The  period  of  orchestral  virtuosity,  in 
which  the  whole  aim  was  daintiness,  refinement,  and  precision  of 
execution,  is  past.  Already  in  his  day  Weber  declared  war 
against  metronomical  orchestra  playing.  After  long  and  thor- 
ough study  I  am  profoundly  convinced  that  had  Beethoven  not 
become  deaf  he  would  have  demonstrated  by  his  conducting  how 
insufficient  his  tempo  and  expression  marks  are  for  the  correct 
interpretation  of  his  symphonies.  Weber  said  that  there  was  no 
composition  throughout  which  one  measure  was  to  be  played 
like  the  other.  True,  otherwise  it  would  be  but  machine  work. 
Is  it  possible  to  conceive  of  a  Beethoven  who  wished  to  have  the 
works  of  his  second  and  third  creative  periods  performed  with- 
out a  bit  of  freedom  in  melody  or  change  of  mood  ?  Naturally, 
there  must  be  no  dissection  on  the  part  of  the  conductor,  and 

230 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  freedom  of  movement  which  is  exercised  must  not  be  per- 
mitted to  disarrange  the  picture  as  a  whole.  Any  man  who 
found  it  possible  to  conduct  the  "  Pastoral  "  or  Fifth  Symphony 
in  strict  metronomic  time,  or  the  Ninth  without  variation  in 
the  tempo,  ought  to  put  down  his  baton  at  once  and  become  a 
traveling  salesman  for  the  ^olian  or  electric  pianos. 

If  it  is  difficult  for  the  concert  conductor,  who  has  only 
the  one  agency — the  orchestra — to  control,  to  carry  out  the 
aims  of  the  composer,  it  is  much  more  difficult  for  the  opera 
conductor,  who  must  manage  the  many  solo  singers  and  the 
chorus  with  all  their  difficult  tasks,  collective  and  individual, 
mutual  and  independent.  It  is  the  gigantic  task  of  the  conduc- 
tor to  inform  all  these  varied  agents  with  the  intentions  of  the 
composer,  to  interweave  the  orchestral  part  with  theirs,  and  to 
graduate  the  instrumental  sounds  so  that  the  action  may  present 
itself  clearly  and  easily  to  the  listener.  Here  let  me  say,  from 
the  conductor's  point  of  view,  that  it  is  surely  the  purpose  of 
the  composer  to  have  his  stage-folk  understood  by  the  public. 
It  follows,  then,  that  the  orchestra  must  never  shriek  and  drown 
the  voices  of  the  singers,  but  support  them.  The  orchestra 
ought  always  to  bear  in  mind  that  on  the  stage  above  there  is  a 
man  with  something  to  say,  which  the  sixty  or  eighty  men  below 
must  support  so  that  every  tone  and  word  shall  be  heard  and 
understood.  The  composer  did  not  write  an  orchestra  part  in 
order  that  it  might  drown  the  words  sung  on  the  stage.  Wag- 
ner, even  when  conducting  excerpts  from  his  operas,  was  pain- 
fully anxious  that  every  syllable  of  the  singer  should  be  heard. 
Frequently  at  the  close  of  a  vocal  phrase  he  would  arrest  the 
sound  of  the  orchestra  for  a  moment,  in  order  that  the  final 
syllable  should  not  be  covered  up.  How  often  did  he  call  out 
angrily,  "  Kinder,  you  are  killing  my  poetry  !  " 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


How  discouraging  must  be  the  effect  upon  an  intelligent 
singer  to  feel  that,  in  spite  of  every  exertion,  he  is  being  drowned 
by  the  orchestra !  Thoughtless  musicians,  speaking  of  mv 
production  of  Tristan  und  Isolde  one  year,  expressed  the 
opinion  that  I  had  supplied  the  work  with  more  delicate  tints 
than  usual,  only  for  the  sake  of  Jean  de  Reszke  and  Nordica. 
This  only  proves  how  many  musicians  there  are  who  still  cannot 
understand  the  chief  thing  in  an  opera.  In  rehearsing  Tristan  I 
did  not  change  a  single  note  or  expression  mark,  but  only  carried 
out  what  the  composer  had  written  down,  and  gave  effect  to  the 
vocal  and  orchestral  parts  in  their  true  complementary  values. 
I  am  flattered  to  know  that  I  achieved  the  desired  and  pre- 
scribed success,  for  it  was  the  general  verdict  that  every  word 
was  understood  from  beginning  to  end  ;  that  was  my  wish,  and 
that  should  be  the  wish  and  the  accomplishment  of  every 
conductor. 

A  conductor  must  impress  strongly  upon  his  orchestra  that 
there  are  different  kinds  of  fortes.  A  forte  from  the  strings 
differs  from  a  trombone  or  trumpet /or/^.  Now  the/or/^  of  the 
singer  is  always  the  same,  but  the  accompaniment  varies.  It 
follows  of  necessity  that  a  trombone  forte  in  an  accompaniment 
cannot  have  the  same  intensity  as  a  viola  forte.  Is  not  that 
obvious  i"  Consequently  there  is  a  vocal /(?r/^  and  an  instrumen- 
tal forte.  Take,  for  instance,  Isolde's  death  scene  in  Tristan,  or 
the  great  love  duet  in  the  second  act  of  the  same  drama ;  if  the 
conductor  does  not  differentiate  there  between  the  fortes  of  the 
orchestra  and  the  fortes  of  the  singers,  the  latter  will  be  hope- 
lessly lost,  and  the  listeners  will  say,  and  rightly  :  "  Wagner  is 
a  barbarian  ;  he  ruins  the  human  voice."  But  what  they  ought 
to  say  is,  "  The  conductor  had  better  take  to  the  road  and  sell 
electric  pianos."     A   Chicago   critic   essayed   to   rebuke  me  by 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


saying  that  in  Berlin,  when  I  was  younger,  I  had  permitted  the 
orchestra  to  play  much  louder  in  'The  Ring  of  the  Nibelung. 
Now  that  I  had  grown  older  and  made  the  orchestra  play  more 
softly,  he  concluded  that  I  had  lost  my  youthful  vigor.  I  am  glad 
that  I  have  come  to  my  present  insight  into  Wagner's  music,  and 
if  it  would  redound  to  the  advantage  of  that  music  I  should 
wish  every  conductor  my  own  decrepitude.  One  thing,  how- 
ever, I  know,  and  that  is,  that  my  performances  seldom  lacked 
clearness  and  distinctness,  though  I  willingly  admit  that  I  have 
gained  experience  with  years,  and  feel  that  I  could  afford  to 
yield  up  some  of  my  senility  for  the  refreshment  of  younger 
colleagues. 

But  we  must  continue  to  prove  by  examples  the  im- 
portance of  the  conductor  in  the  musical  life  of  to-day.  Look 
for  a  moment  at  the  prelude  to  Die  Meister singer,  which  Wagner 
himself  conducted  long  years  ago  at  a  Gewandhaus  concert  in 
Leipsic,  winning  great  success.  Immediately  afterward  Reinecke 
conducted  a  performance  of  the  same  work  by  the  same  orches- 
tra. It  was  rejected,  but  won  appreciation  later  when  directed 
by  others.  In  Vienna,  Wagner  conducted  the  overture  to  Tier 
FreischUtz  and  evoked  frantic  applause.  Then  came  DessotF, 
and  gave  the  overture  with  the  same  orchestra,  remarking  before- 
hand, "  Now  we  will  play  the  overture  in  the  Wagnerian  style." 
And  yet  it  was  not  at  all  the  same  thing.  Last  year  one  and 
the  same  symphony  was  played  in  New  York  by  three  different 
orchestras  under  three  different  conductors.  I  do  not  wish  to 
discuss  the  relative  value  of  the  instrumental  bodies,  but  simply 
to  remind  those  who  heard  the  concerts  of  the  difference  between 
the  performances  of  the  conductors — a  difference  which  lay  in 
the  nature  of  the  case,  for  each  conductor  had  a  conception  of 
his  own.      But  the  question  is.  Which  of  the  three  came  nearest 

»33 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


to  the  idea  of  the  composer  ? — for  he  who  did  made  beyond  ail 
peradventure  the  best  effect  with  the  symphony.  This  attitude 
of  the  conductor  to  the  composition  is  daily  becoming  more  sig- 
nificant, for  the  composers  of  to-day  are  more  and  more  putting 
thought  into  their  compositions ;  the  conviction  is  growing 
steadily  that  the  proper  order  of  things  is  first  to  think,  then  to 
compose,  and  then  to  perform. 

Even  operas  are  being  more  carefully  thought  out  than 
formerly.  Look  at  the  Italians  now,  and  see  how  they  strive  to 
adapt  their  music  to  the  original  text !  For  this,  thanks  are  due 
to  that  grand  old  man  Verdi,  who  pointed  out  the  way  to  his 
young  colleagues,  and  set  them  an  example  in  his  Otello  and 
Fahtaff. 

When  Wagner  calls  out  to  the  conductor,  "  Recognize  first 
of  all  the  idea :  the  meaning  of  a  phrase  and  the  relation  of  the 
phrase  or  motive  to  the  action,  and  the  proper  reading  and 
tempo  will  disclose  themselves  of  their  own  accord,"  he  goes 
straight  to  the  very  root  of  the  matter.  Look  again  to  "Tristan 
und  Isolde  for  an  example.  A  large  space  of  time  in  the  first  act 
is  occupied  by  Isolde  and  Brangaene,  who  are  alone  in  the  tent. 
A  few  motives  are  continually  developed,  but  with  what  a  variety 
must  they  be  treated — surging  up  now  stormily,  impetuously  ; 
sinking  back  sadly,  exhausted,  anon  threatening,  then  timid,  now 
in  eager  haste,  now  reassuring  !  For  such  a  variety  of  expres- 
sion the  few  indications,  ritardando,  accelerando,  and  a  tempo  do 
not  suffice  ;  it  is  necessary  to  live  through  the  action  of  the 
drama  in  order  to  make  it  all  plain.  The  composer  says,  "  With 
variety" — a  meagre  injunction  for  the  conductor.  Therefore  I 
add,  "  Feel  with  the  characters,  ponder  with  them,  experience 
with  them  all  the  devious  outbursts  of  passion,  but  remain  dis- 
tinct always  !  "     That  is  the  duty  of  a  conductor.     If  in  addition 

»34 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  conductor  is  able  to  grasp  and  hold  the  play  in  its  totality, 
to  combine  all  the  singers  into  a  single  striking  picture,  he  will 
not  need  to  wait  till  the  next  day  for  a  recompense  of  praise ;  he 
may  have  the  reward  of  satisfaction  with  himself  at  once.  It  is 
his  artistic  achievement  to  have  lived  through,  to  have  himself 
experienced  the  drama.  In  the  third  act  of  the  same  work  he 
must  suffer  with  Tristan,  feel  his  pains,  follow  him  step  for  step 
through  his  delirious  wanderings. 

That  conductor  is  an  offender  who  ruins  the  picture  by 
blurring  its  outlines  by  playing  too  loudly,  or  destroys  its  pliancy 
by  an  unyielding  beat.  Think  of  the  exciting  task  presented 
by  the  scene  of  Tristan  on  his  deathbed  !  The  conductor  must 
be  ever  at  his  heels.  Every  measure,  every  cry  must  agree  with 
the  orchestra.  If  the  singer  one  day  sings  a  measure  only  a 
shade  differently  than  usual,  or  begins  or  ends  a  rallentando  or 
accelerando  one  measure  earlier  or  later — an  entirely  natural  thing 
to  do — the  conductor  must  be  on  hand  with  his  orchestra,  that 
the  picture  may  not  be  distorted  or  blurred.  He  must  have  the 
brush  of  the  composer  and  his  colors  always  ready — in  a  word, 
he  must  live,  suffer,  and  die  with  the  singer,  else  he  is  an 
offender  against  art. 

Here  let  me  call  attention  to  a  singular  phenomenon,  which 
seems  somewhat  startling  at  first  blush  but  which  cannot  be  gain- 
said. The  performances  of  conductors  are  frequently  criticised 
in  great  haste  and  with  much  harshness.  Take,  for  instance,  an 
overture  or  symphony  by  Beethoven  and  have  it  conducted  by 
three  or  four  really  great  conductors.  Immediately  comparisons 
will  be  made  :  one  will  be  preferred  and  the  others  condemned 
without  mercy.  This  is  all  wrong,  for  it  is  possible  that  one 
and  the  same  subject  shall  be  treated  differently  by  different 
masters,  yet  each  treatment  have  an  effective  and   an  individual 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


physiognomy  in  its  way.  Different  painters  and  poets  can  use 
the  same  material,  each  in  his  own  manner,  and  each  produce  an 
art-work  of  value.  How  many  pictures  of  Christ  are  there  in 
existence  ?  Each  Christ  head  painted  by  a  great  master  differs 
from  all  others ;  yet  each  is  a  classic  for  all  that.  In  a  musical 
performance  I  should  first  inquire  whether  or  not  the  conductor 
has  anything  to  say,  whether  there  is  definite  meaning  in  his 
proclamation,  especially  if  it  should  produce  a  different  effect 
upon  me  from  a  reading  based  on  an  entirely  different  concep- 
tion, and  give  a  plain  exposition  of  the  conductor's  purposes 
and  ideas.  If  the  variations  consist  of  empty  external  details, 
then  away  with  them,  no  matter  how  prettily  empty  they 
may  sound.  There  is  less  likelihood  of  such  a  state  of  things, 
since  action  and  train  of  thought  are  prescribed ;  and  the  in- 
stances are  not  many  even  in  symphonic  music,  but  they  may 
occur. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  make  a  few  observations  on  three 
great  musicians  who  were  pioneers  in  their  art  and  frequently 
appeared  in  the  capacity  of  conductors.  They  are  Berlioz, 
Liszt,  and  Wagner.  Berlioz  was  a  keen  observer  ;  he  frequently 
wrote  music  so  appropriate  to  the  dramatic  or  poetical  idea  as  to 
be  obvious  to  everybody — as,  for  instance,  the  storm  scene  in 
Les  Troyens,  the  ^ball  and  execution  scenes  in  the  "  Fantastic 
Symphony,"  the  march  of  pilgrims  in  the  "  Harold  Symphony," 
the  Mephistopheles  scenes  and  the  Ride  to  Hell  in  "  La  Damna- 
tion de  Faust,"  and  many  other  pieces.  Only  a  real  genius 
could  have  done  these  things.  It  is  true  that  these  startlingly 
accurate  delineations  sprang  from  his  enormous  knowledge  of 
orchestral  technique  rather  than  from  his  soul,  though  it  is  not 
to  be  denied  that  Berlioz  often  invented  strangely  beautiful  and 
effective  melodies.      His  musical  pyrotechnics   are   frequently  of 

236 


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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


the  most  dazzling  order.  As  conductor  of  his  own  compositions 
he  was  incomparable.  Cosima  Wagner  has  often  related  that  he 
brought  to  his  rehearsals  a  tremendous  command  of  the  minutiae 
of  orchestral  technics,  a  wonderful  ear  for  delicate  effects  and 
tonal  beauty,  and  an  irresistible  power  of  command.  Upon  all 
who  heard  or  played  under  him  he  exerted  an  ineradicable  influ- 
ence. His  music,  frequently  rugged  in  contrasts  and  daring 
leaps,  is  also  insinuating  and  suave  at  times,  and  so,  too,  was  his 
conducting :  one  moment  he  would  be  high  in  air,  the  next 
crouched  under  his  desk ;  one  moment  he  would  menace  the 
bass  drummer,  and  the  next  flatter  the  flutist ;  now  he  would 
draw  long  threads  of  sound  out  of  the  violinists,  and  anon  lunge 
through  the  air  at  the  double  basses,  or  with  some  daring  remark 
help  the  violoncellists  to  draw  a  cantilena  full  of  love-longing 
out  of  their  thick-bellied  instruments.  His  musicians  feared 
him  and  his  demoniac,  sarcastic  face,  and  wriggled  to  escape  un- 
scathed from  his  talons. 

Liszt,  the  founder  of  the  Symphonic  Poem,  was  differently 
organized.  The  dashing,  energetic  Hungarian,  who  had  devel- 
oped into  a  man  of  the  world  in  the  salons  of  Paris,  was  always 
lofty  and  noble  in  his  undertakings.  He  was  singularly  good- 
hearted,  excessively  charitable,  unselfish,  and  ready  with  aid,  in- 
trepid, sometimes  to  his  own  harm,  persistent  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  aims,  quickly  and  enthusiastically  responsive  to  all  beauti- 
ful things,  and  ready  at  once  to  fight  for  them  through  thick  and 
thin.  Thus  we  see  him  in  Weimar,  the  first  to  throw  down  the 
gage  to  envy  and  stupidity  in  behalf  of  the  Wagnerian  art-drama, 
and  never  growing  weary.  He  was  the  first  Wagnerian  conductor, 
and  battled  with  baton  and  pen  for  the  musical  drama  at  a  time 
when  few  believed  in  it.  He  was  the  first  to  recognize  Wagner's 
genius  and  bow  to  the  reforming  force  of  the  new  musical  dispen- 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


sation.  His  recognition  of  the  new  era  gave  him  the  idea  of  the 
Symphonic  Poem,  and  so  he  became  in  the  concert  room  what 
Wagner  was  on  the  stage.  Liszt  also  introduced  the  reforms 
into  his  sacred  and  secular  oratorios,  and  their  influence  disclosed 
itself  as  well  in  the  conductor's  office.  His  Jovian  countenance 
filled  everybody  with  a  sort  of  holy  dread  ;  his  colabourers  were 
lifted  to  the  top  of  a  lofty  pedestal ;  all  were  profoundly,  majes- 
tically moved,  inspired,  and  made  conscious  of  a  high  mission. 
Liszt  radiated  an  exalted  magic  on  singers  as  well  as  instrumen- 
talists. He  felt  himself  to  be  an  apostle  of  art,  whose  duty  and 
privilege  it  was  to  preach  love,  faith,  and  respect  eternal  in  all  his 
deeds  as  conductor,  and  his  feelings  were  shared  with  him  by 
performers  and  listeners.  By  means  of  his  priestly  appearance 
and  dignity,  and  his  consuming  enthusiasm  for  everything  noble, 
he  carried  with  him  irresistibly  all  who  came  into  contact  with 
him.  He  compelled  all  to  love  and  believe  in  the  composition 
he  brought  forward.  If  Berlioz  left  behind  him  a  demoniac  im- 
pression, Liszt  disseminated  light  and  celestial  consecration  ;  one 
felt  himself  in  a  better  world. 

Wagner  was  a  union  of  the  other  two.  To  him  both 
heaven  and  hell  were  open.  He  delineated  the  sense-distracting 
pleasures  of  the  realm  of  Venus  in  glowing  colors,  plunged  into 
the  most  awful  depths  of  the  sea,  and  brought  up  ghostly  ships  ; 
he  opened  to  us  vistas  of  the  legendary  and  misty  land  of  the 
Holy  Grail ;  now  he  draws  us  with  him  on  a  nocturnal  promen- 
ade through  the  streets  of  Nuremberg,  and  buflfets  the  master 
singers  and  the  petty  town  clerk  ;  anon  he  discloses  the  nameless 
suffering  and  endless  longing  of  two  lovers  who  are  being  drawn 
unconsciously  by  the  power  of  magic  into  the  land  of  eternal 
darkness  and  night,  there  to  be  united  in  bliss  everlasting.  Next 
he  plays  in   the   Rhine  with   its   nixies,  calls  up  the  lumbering 

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ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


giants,  the  nimble  dwarfs,  the  stately  gods,  rides  into  battle  with 
the  daughters  of  Wotan,  rambles  through  forests  to  the  twitter- 
ings of  birds,  till  he  reaches  the  cavern  smithy,  forges  swords, 
strides  through  the  flickering  flame  to  awaken  a  heroic  maiden, 
returns  to  the  Rhine,  overwhelms  the  race  of  gods,  and  predicts 
the  coming  of  that  which  shall  endure  forever — the  love  of 
woman.  At  the  close  of  his  glorious  life  and  labor  he  leaves  us 
the  most  precious  of  treasures — the  Holy  Grail  and  Holy 
Lance — as  tokens  of  Faith,  Love,  and  Hope.  Did  ever  a 
human  intellect  bequeath  to  the  world  such  a  wealth  of  ideas, 
suggestions,  and  teachings  before  ?  We  cannot  imagine  the  time 
when  knowledge  of  these  things  shall  be  complete  and  closed, 
for  the  more  they  are  studied  the  greater  are  the  treasures  dis- 
covered. 

As  a  conductor  Wagner  was  a  man  of  iron  energy.  Almost 
small  of  stature,  he  seemed  to  grow  to  gigantic  size  when  before 
his  orchestra.  His  powerful  head,  with  its  sharply  defined 
features,  his  wonderfully  penetrating  eyes,  his  mobile  face,  which 
gave  expression  to  every  emotion,  every  thought,  can  never  be 
forgotten.  His  body  stood  motionless,  but  his  eyes  glittered, 
glowed,  pierced  ;  his  fingers  worked  nervously,  and  electric  cur- 
rents seemed  to  pass  through  the  air  to  each  individual  musician  ; 
an  invisible  force  entered  the  hearts  of  all ;  every  man  thrilled 
with  him,  for  he  could  not  escape  the  glance  of  this  great  man. 
Wagner  held  everybody  bound  to  him  as  by  a  magical  chain  ; 
the  musicians  had  to  perform  wonders,  for  they  could  not  do 
otherwise.  At  first  things  went  topsy-turvy  at  rehearsals,  be- 
cause of  the  impatience  of  the  master,  who  wanted  everything 
to  be  good  at  once  ;  the  strange,  illustrative  movements  of  his 
long  baton  startled  and  puzzled  the  musicians  until  they  learned 
that  the   musical   bars  were   not  dominant,  but  the   phrase,  the 

239 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


melody,  or  the  expression  ;  but  soon  the  glance  caught  the  atten- 
tion of  the  men,  they  became  infused  with  the  magical  fluid,  and 
the  master  had  them  all  in  his  hands.  Then  the  meanest  orches- 
tra grew  and  played  gloriously,  the  tones  became  imbued  with 
life  and  expression,  the  most  rigorous  rhythm  and  the  loftiest 
emotional  expression  ruled,  and  everything  was  reflected  in  the 
face  of  Wagner.  All  hung  on  his  glance,  and  he  seemed  to  see 
them  all  at  once.  Once  I  sat  beside  a  great  actor  who  for  the 
first  time  saw  Wagner  exercise  this  potency  of  look  and  facial 
expression.  He  stared  at  Wagner  as  if  he  had  been  an  appari- 
tion from  beyond  the  grave,  and  could  not  take  his  eyes  off  him. 
Afterward  he  told  me  that  Wagner's  face  was  more  eloquent 
than  all  the  actors  in  the  world  with  all  their  powers  of  expres- 
sion combined.  Whoever  saw  Wagner,  and  came  into  contact 
with  him  in  Vienna,  Berlin,  Hamburg,  Budapest,  Russia,  or 
Switzerland,  will  certainly  never  forget  this  influence.  He  sel- 
dom conducted,  but  one  must  have  seen  him  conduct  a  sym- 
phony by  Beethoven  in  order  to  learn  how  much  there  is  hidden 
away  among  the  notes  of  that  classic  giant,  and  how  much  can 
be  conjured  out  of  them.  To  my  thinking,  Wagner  is  not  only 
the  mightiest  of  all  musical  geniuses,  but  also  the  greatest  con- 
ductor that  ever  lived. 


140 


TRIBUTES    FROM    GREAT    SINGERS 


BY     LILLI     LE  H  M  A  N  N-K  ALI  SC  H 


A  LARGE  part  of  my   musical  existence  died  with  Anton 
Seidl  and  only  a  sweet  memory  remains  where  I  always 
quietly  hoped  to  see  new  blossoms  spring  up  in  profusion. 

Our  joint  work  belongs  to  the  most  sacred  memories  of  my 
career.     It  comprises   not  only  the  time  we  spent  together  at 
Bayreuth,   where   young   Seidl    assisted  in   moving    the    Rhine 
Daughters,  but  also  a  period  of  equal  importance  to  both  of  us 
the  German  opera  at  New  York. 

There  are  few  managers  who  could  lay  claim  to  one  thing 
which  the  artist  singer  so  often  must  dispense  with :  that  an 
artist  and  a  leader  of  singers,  who  felt  and  breathed  with  them, 
stood  in  the  orchestra. 

That  complete  devotion  which  seemed  to  flow  from  his 
baton,  the  earnestness  of  his  personality,  when  he  stood  at  his 
desk — for  he  did  not  sit  down  like  so  many  others,  whom 
I  consider  in  the  wrong,  because  the  leader,  when  erect, 
always  secures  greater  attention  and  does  not  tempt  people  to 
take  things  easily,  at  the  same  time  exacting  from  the  orchestra 
increased  esteem  for  art  itself  and  the  work  in  hand — influenced 
everybody  upon  the  stage  and  inspired  us  to  do  our  best. 

243 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


All  this  Still  lives  in  my  heart  and  sounds  in  my  ear  and  I 
remember  with  deepest  gratitude  the  glorious  time  when  we 
were  permitted  to  work  with  Albert  Niemann,  Marianne  Brandt, 
Emil  Fischer  and  others  who  may  never  return,  where  those 
sacred  ties,  which  do  not  always  unite  all  the  artists  accidentally 
thrown  together  upon  the  same  stage,  firmly  united  us  all.  Seidl 
said  little,  but  we  felt  everything  without  hearing  his  words,  and 
the  heavenly  contentment  with  which  the  performances  of 
Euryanthe,  Fidelia,  Tristan  and  the  Ring  filled  our  hearts  can  be 
compared  with  nothing  in  this  world. 

All  our  work  was  chastened  by  the  devotion  which  seemed 
to  flow  from  him — a  musical-electrical  current  connected  him 
with  us  and  flowed  back  from  us  to  him — as  it  tnust  be  if  per- 
fection is  to  be  attained. 

He  was  always  at  the  opera  house  an  hour  before  the  time 
set  for  the  performance  ;  he  looked  after  everything,  watched 
everybody,  to  make  sure  that  nothing  was  missing,  that  every- 
thing was  in  its  place.  Many  leaders  might  learn  from  his 
wise  way  of  taking  care  of  everything. 

I  saw  him  for  the  last  time  at  his  house,  where  he  gave 
well-meant  and  very  good  advice  to  young  artists,  in  his  kind 
and  quiet  way.  He  went  to  Chicago  and  left  us  in  his  charm- 
ing, hospitable  home  to  the  kind  care  of  his  dear  wife. 

I  never  saw  him  again  !  When  the  dreadful  news  came 
I  trembled  for  hours ;  I  could  not  believe  it.  Still  it  was 
true !  He  too  is  gone  and  with  him  the  hope  that  we  should 
once  more  feel  together,  again  unite  and  give  to  the  people  what 
inspired  us  and  filled  us  with  ecstasy :  noble  art !  All  those 
who  really  feel,  who  possess  a  rich  and  grand  soul,  understand 
it,  and  this  ability  to  feel  and  to  appreciate  is  the  only  gratitude 
that  nobody  can  decline,  and  he  least  of  all. 

244 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


For  this  reason  Seidl  will   live  as  long  as   one  of  all   those 
souls  remains,  which  have  felt  with  him  what  he  has  given  to  us  all. 


>^. 


BY     MARIANNE     BRANDT 


I  MET  Anton  Seidl  for  the  first  time  at  Bayreuth  in  1876. 
I  am  not  quite  certain  whether  he  was  one  of  the  two  de- 
votees of  Wagner  who  acted  as  prompters  while  I  sang  Waltraute, 
after  studying  the  part  during  the  night  because  Madame  Jaide 
had  suddenly  become  hoarse,  and  the  Siegfried  performance  was 
thereby  threatened ;  but  I  believe  the  two  were  Seidl  and 
Mottl.  Standing  in  the  wings  behind  artificial  rocks,  they 
helped  me  not  only  with  the  libretto,  but  also  by  calling  out 
words  of  encouragement,  which  was  quite  necessary,  for  I  was 
half  dead  from  fright  and  excitement. 

I  became  better  acquainted  with  Seidl  in  the  summer  of 
1 88 1.  Wagner  had  sent  for  me  and  asked  me  to  sing  Kundry. 
At  that  time  Wagner  was  going  over  the  Parsifal  score  with 
Seidl,  who  was  the  favorite  of  the  whole  family.  With  Seidl  I 
studied  Kundry's  narrative  at  Wahnfried,  and  he  played  the 
accompaniment  when  I  sang  before  Wagner.  It  was  the  first 
time  that  Wagner  heard  this  part  sung  by  a  female  voice ;  his 
eyes  were  full  of  tears.  He  ran  out  of  the  room  and  called 
"  Cosima,   Cosima,  come  quickly ;   you  must  hear  it."      I   had 

^45 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


to  sing  the  part  again  tor  Mrs.  Wagner,  and  when  I  had  finished 
Wagner  said,  "  What  I  have  done  there  is  not  so  bad,  after  all." 

Wagner  was  at  that  time  in  very  good  humor,  and  we  often 
made  music  after  supper.  One  evening,  while  Seidl  played  the 
piano,  Wagner  ran  suddenly  into  his  library  and  brought  a 
big  book,  which  he  opened  and  placed  on  the  piano.  What 
was  it  ?  Rossini's  Othello.  Wagner  turned  the  leaves  for 
a  while,  told  Seidl  to  play  this  or  that  air,  softly  humming  the 
tune.  When  he  found  a  trio  for  soprano,  tenor  and  bass,  he 
cried,  "  We  must  sing  this  !  "  and  we  started  at  once.  Wagner 
sang  bass,  Seidl  the  tenor  part,  and  I,  Desdemona,  soprano. 
It  was  a  very  florid  air,  where  one  after  the  other  sings  his 
passages  until  all  three  voices  are  joined  together,  and  we  let 
them  roll  out  just  as  they  came,  of  course  almost  bursting  with 
laughter.  I  never  again  saw  Wagner  and  Seidl  so  merry  as 
they  were  that  evening. 

Later,  in  1882,  came  Angelo  Neumann's  tour  with  Seidl. 
I  had  accepted  an  engagement  with  Neumann  for  the  few  months 
during  which  the  Vogls  were  not  at  liberty,  and  sang  for  the  first 
time  under  Seidl's  leadership  in  December,  1882,  in  the  Victoria 
Theatre  at  Berlin,  the  part  of  Briinnhilde  in  Die  JValkure.  Here 
I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Auguste  Kraus,  the  lovely  Sieglinde, 
for  whom  I  felt  warm  friendship  from  the  first  moment  and  ever 
afterwards. 

That  tour  was  a  continuous  triumph  for  Seidl,  and  brought 
him  besides  his  greatest  treasure,  his  dear  wife.  But  I  had 
a  little  clash  with  him.  In  March,  1883,  in  Darmstadt,  I 
had  to  sing  Brunnhilde  in  the  Gotterdammerung.  Seidl,  who  was 
as  much  overworked  as  the  whole  orchestra,  could  not  hold  a  re- 
hearsal, and  all  I  could  do  was  to  arrange  a  superficial  rehearsal 
of  this   gigantic   part  with   the   assistant   leader   and   the   piano 

246 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


transcription,  while  Seidl  led  at  the  performance  in  the  evening. 
Anybody  who  knows  the  difficulties  of  the  part  will  under- 
stand what  that  means.  I  suppose  there  was  considerable  lack 
of  steadiness,  but  everything  went  off  pretty  well.  But  during 
the  finale  I  was  completely  entranced  and  probably  dragged  the 
tempi  a  little,  for  suddenly  my  exaltation  was  rudely  broken 
by  several  sharp  raps  of  the  baton,  while  Seidl's  eyes  were  flash- 
ing fire  at  me.  I  was  naturally  angry  with  him  because  he  had 
corrected  me  so  conspicuously  before  the  audience  ;  but  when, 
later  on,  he  told  me  that  my  Briinnhilde  was  very  good,  the  old 
friendship  was  renewed. 

Then  followed,  in  1884,  my  first  trip  to  America.  Seidl 
was  newly  married  and  brought  his  Gustl  on  board,  whom  he  rec- 
ommended to  me  most  warmly.  We  occupied  adjoining  state- 
rooms, and  while  the  storms  were  raging  I  often  heard  the  young 
bride,  who  almost  never  slept,  sob  pitifully  :  "  My  poor  hus- 
band, poor  Toni,  I  shall  never  see  you  again  !  "  We  had  a  ter- 
rible passage  and  I  was  so  seasick  myself  that  I  could  not  cheer 
up  the  dear  woman  as  I  wished  to  do,  and  she  had  to  bear  her 
sorrow  all  alone. 

Everybody  still  remembers  the  time  I  spent  in  New  York 
and  the  work  that  Seidl  did  there  Is  a  part  of  history.  We  re- 
mained intimate  friends  until  my  farewell  season  and  when  I  left, 
Seidl  gave  me  his  portrait  with  the  words  Lene  sings  in  the 
Meistersinger : 

"  'T  were  fine,  if  we  should  often  meet  again  !     A.  Seidl." 

Alas  !  it  was  otherwise  ordained.  I  never  met  Seidl  again  ! 
I  cannot  describe  how  deeply  his  sudden  death  has  affected  me  ! 


247 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


BY     LILLIAN     NORDICA     DOME 


TIME  makes  the  more  unreconcilable  the  loss  of  Anton 
Seidl.  His  life  was  one  with  his  art  which  was  the 
moving  inspiration  of  that  life  itself,  and  his  enthusiasm  was  a 
forceful  influence  upon  those  about  him. 

His  rare  knowledge  and  musicianship,  dedicated  first  of  all 
to  the  works  of  Wagner,  made  him  a  powerful  factor  in  their 
advancement,  and  in  the  personality  of  the  man  was  the  ability 
to  get  great  work  alike  out  of  artists  and  orchestra  quietly. 

Mr.  Seidl  was  the  first  to  bring  out  the  degrees  of  shading 
exactly  as  Wagner  wrote  them,  and  how  many  pianos  and 
pianissimos  he  placed  in  his  scores — and  how  many  conductors 
have  said  that  it  was  impossible  to  give  them  !  Yet  there  was 
always  the  example  of  Anton  Seidl  to  quote  in  silencing  these 
assertions  of  impossibility. 

His  learning  was  so  profound  and  extended  to  all  channels 
bearing  on  Wagnerian  subjects,  particularly,  with  such  thorough- 
ness that  his  reasons  were  irrefutable.  He  could  act  out  every 
part  in  the  music  dramas  and  his  exactness  extended  to  the 
multitude  of  details  accepted  as  minor,  but  of  such  import- 
ance. One  day  after  devoting  three  hours  of  his  time  to  me, 
going  over  the  score  of  'Tristan,  we  went  to  a  Broadway  store  to 
buy  a  veil  for  Isolde  in  the  second  act.  He  asked  for  samples 
of  various  kinds  of  tulle,  and,  when  they  came,  he  seized  one 
after  another  at  one  end  and  flirted  the  other  rapidly  through  the 
air,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  shoppers  and  shop-girls, 
who  were  not  quite  sure  whether  he  was  in  his  right  mind.  But 
he  knew  just  what  he  wanted. 

With  the   quenching  of  the   torch   he  was  just  as  insistent 

248 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


that  it  should  be  thrust  into  water  and  not  sand  to  prevent  the 
spreading  of  the  flames  from  escaping  alcohol.  His  devotion  to  his 
work  in  these  details  was  inexhaustible.  When  matters  of  im- 
portance claimed  his  attention  there  seemed  room  in  his  mind  for 
nothing  else.  In  encouragement  he  was  always  ready  with  those 
earnest  in  their  strivings  and  his  knowledge  was  at  their  disposal, 
a  knowledge  that  meant  to  so  many  a  help  to  advancement  in 
their  art.  Even  in  the  days  when  my  voice  was  light  he  used 
often  to  say  to  me:  "Wait,  you  will  sing  Wagner  one  of  these  days." 

When  I  did,  and  began  to  study  the  role  of  Venus  it  was 
Mr.  Seidl  who  taught  it  to  me.  Again  it  was  Mr.  Seidl  who 
aided  me  in  the  first  study  of  Elsa  for  Bayreuth,  an  aid  of 
such  authority,  enthusiasm  and  assurance  that  it  laid  a  foundation 
of  future  purpose  and  determination.  The  summer  of  Mr. 
Seidl's  conductorship  at  Covent  Garden  I  saw  him  oftener  than 
had  been  my  privilege  at  any  time.  He  would  sit  on  my  bal- 
cony at  the  Savoy  Hotel  for  hours  at  a  time,  thinking  and 
smoking  and  smoking  and  thinking,  his  eyes  wandering  some- 
times to  the  scene  below  on  the  embankment  or  the  barges  float- 
ing in  the  sunshine  on  the  Thames. 

He  was  homesick  for  his  wife,  his  dogs  and  the  mountains, 
and  things  perhaps  were  not  always  going  as  he  wished.  Those 
meditations  seemed  a  genuine  comfort  to  him,  and  when  they 
were  done  he  was  ready  for  a  conversation  in  which  his  gentle- 
ness and  his  devotion  to  his  work  always  shone  out. 

The  modesty  that  characterized  him  was  notable,  but  woe 
to  the  individual  who  imposed  upon  that  modesty.  It  was  an 
imposition  not  likely  to  be  repeated. 

No  rehearsal  was  long  enough  to  exhaust  his  patience,  and 
he  seemed  at  such  times  to  have  efi^aced  all  thoughts  of  his  own 
feelings  in  the  one  desire  for  a  complete  interpretation. 

249 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


Homage  has  been  granted  to  other  authorities  who  have 
gone  out  into  the  world  armed  with  original  Bayreuth  tradition, 
but  surely  to  none  can  it  be  more  sincerely  given  than  to  Anton 
Seidl.  It  was  his  mission  and  the  dominant  thought  of  his  life, 
not  obtrusively  but  with  a  straightforward  forcefulness  that  made 
itself  felt,  that  encouraged  and  cultivated  a  reflection  of  the  same 
high  qualities  in  those  about  him  and  engaged  in  the  presenta- 
tions. To  have  sung  under  his  baton  was  to  have  been  im- 
pressed with  all  these  things,  and  yet  in  sustaining  his  ideals  by 
untiring  effort  there  never  seemed  with  Mr.  Seidl  any  thought  that 
he  was  doing  more  than  the  humblest  would  have  done  to  secure 
a  proper  standard  of  performance.  His  sincerity,  like  his  enthu- 
siasm, was  infectious  ;  if  the  one  aroused  those  engaged  to  more 
vital  interest  the  other  helped  make  that  interest  of  the  enduring 
kind.  When  a  man  of  such  high  purpose  comes  into  the  world 
he  impresses  an  influence  extending  so  far  beyond  his  time  that 
it  is  not  given  to  us  to  estimate  it.  We  can  only  feel  that  the 
best  appreciation  that  we  had  to  give  him  was  far  short  of  his 
high  value.  To  a  great  cause  in  music  he  brought  all  his  strength 
and  self-effacement.  He  was  content  to  rest  in  the  shadow  of 
his  work,  claiming  nothing  for  himself  but  that  he  sustained  his 
duty,  and  that  with  a  simplicity  belonging  only  to  the  truly  great. 

While  the  name  of  Wagner  lives  the  name  of  Anton  Seidl 
will  live.  The  conductor  took  up  the  message  of  the  composer, 
establishing  tradition,  implanting  high  motives  and  making  his 
life  a  lesson  that  must  live  until  the  end  with  those  of  us  who 
were  associated  with  him  or  who  knew  his  work. 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


BY     EMMA     EAMES-STORY 


A  REGRET  too  deep  for  words  fills  my  heart  at  my  home- 
coming this  year.  Regret  for  the  loss  of  one  whom  it 
was  a  privilege  to  have  known — Anton  Seidl.  We,  the  artists 
who  sang  under  his  direction,  must  feel  his  absence  even  more 
keenly  than  his  public. 

He  was  a  leader  in  truth — never  a  martinet.  With  all  his 
knowledge  and  his  perfect  taste,  we  always  felt  that  he  had  our 
interests  at  heart,  that  when  leading  an  opera  he  forgot  himself 
in  his  desire  to  bring  out  the  best  in  us,  realizing  that  only  by 
so  doing  could  he  bring  out  the  best  in  the  work.  I  can  onlv 
with  hopeless  reiteration  say  that  his  loss  as  a  leader  cannot 
be  made  good.  He  had  too  personal  and  too  distinct  a  place  in 
our  hearts. 

As  a  man,  unfortunately,  I  did  not  know  him  as  well.  My 
opportunities  for  knowing  him  were,  with  one  or  two  exceptions, 
found  only  when  my  work  threw  me  with  him.  His  geniality 
always  impressed  me,  and  one  thing  in  his  character  appealed 
most  particularly  to  me — his  love  of  dogs.  One  night  during 
my  last  winter  here — the  winter  of  1896-97 — he  dined  with  me 
and  enchanted  me  the  whole  evening  with  stories  of  his  delightful 
Dachshunds.  His  feeling  for  our  dumb  friends  and  his  attitude 
towards  them  indicated  what  a  wealth  of  heart  he  had.  That 
evening  I  was  drawn  toward  him  more  nearly  than  ever  before, 
as  I  too  love  and  understand  as  he  did  the  dog  as  an  individuality. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  when  he  went  with  me  in 
Bayreuth  to  call  on  Frau  Wagner,  in  August,  1 897.  I  shall 
always  remember  him  at  that  time  and  the  little  twinkle  of 
amusement  that  would  come  unbidden  into  his  eyes.     I  did  not 

251 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


wish  to  sing  and  had  only  gone  to  make  a  friendly  visit  with  the 
keen  intention  of  not  allowing  myself  to  be  persuaded  to  do  so. 
Mr.  Seidl  wheedled  me  into  doing  so,  so  gently  that  before  I 
knew  it  I  was  singing. 

When  the  news  of  his  death  came  I  could  not  accept  it. 
Even  now  the  numbness  of  the  blow  again  comes  over  me  when 
I  think  of  our  loss.  A  sense  of  loss  that  overwhelms  me  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  I  have  no  right  to  feel  it  as  strongly  and  as 
personally  as  I  do. 

He  it  was  that  urged  me  to  study  the  role  of  Sieglinde. 
He  said  that  it  was  a  "good  bridge"  between  Wagner's  lyric 
and  his  heavier  dramatic  roles.  Alas  !  that  after  all  I  should  not 
have  sung  it  with  him  ! 


BY     ANTON     SCHOTT 


WHEN   Richard  Wagner  wrote  these    lines  on  a    score, 
which  he  dedicated  to  his  pupil, 

"  For  Seidl  alone  himself  has  sung 
Into  the  Ring  of  the  Nibelung" 

he  knew  exactly  what  he  was  saying.  I  had  the  great  good 
fortune — I  cannotcall  it  anything  else — of  studying  this  work  with 
Seidl,  and  singing  it  under  his  baton  in  half  the  cities  of 
Europe.  I  mav  say  that  I  learned  to  know  Wagner — and 
through  him  Seidl — thoroughly.     Yet  I  did  not  fully  realize  how 

252 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


great  Seidl  was  till  I  afterwards  sang  for,  and  came  in  conflict 
with  other  eminent  "  Wagner  conductors  "  of  the  time  in  various 
cities.  I  became  convinced  that  he  was,  indeed,  the  only  one 
who  had  penetrated  into  the  innermost  secrets  of  the  Tetralogy, 
and  that  no  other  conductor  would  have  succeeded  in  what  he 
accomplished  so  surprisingly — arousing  the  enthusiasm  (above 
all  peoples)  of  the  Italians,  who  had  never  heard  a  note  of  the  ma- 
ture Wagner.  It  was  the  very  spirit  of  Wagner  that  was  im- 
parted to  all  of  us,  through  the  medium  of  Anton  Seidl  ;  it 
inspired  us  to  deeds  of  enthusiasm,  and  the  public  responded 
cordially.  In  view  of  our  limited  number  of  players  and  other 
insufficient  resources  for  such  places  as  the  Apollo  Theatre 
in  Rome,  for  example,  the  results  achieved  were  little  short  of 
marvelous.  Such  difficulties  are  usually  withheld  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  public  ;  but  we,  who  were  behind  the  scenes, 
knew  them.  We  knew  that  it  was  a  most  audacious  thing 
on  the  manager's  part,  to  subject  this  work  of  genius  to  such  a 
test.      But  he  had  Anton  Seidl. 

So  thoroughly  was  Anton  Seidl  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Wagner's  art  that  he  did  not  hesitate,  on  at  least  one  occasion 
that  I  know  of,  to  sacrifice  the  letter  to  it.  I  studied  the  part  of 
Siegmund  with  him.  At  the  place,  "  Ha,  who  passed,  who 
entered  here  ?  "  before  the  love  song,  Wagner  prescribes,  "  Sieg- 
mund gently  leads  Sieglinde  to  the  bench,  so  that  she  sits  beside 
him."  When,  at  the  first  performance  (Auguste  Kraus  was 
the  Sieglinde),  I  tried  to  follow  these  directions,  it  seemed 
unnatural  that  at  this  moment,  when  Siegmund  stands  with  his 
arm  round  her,  while  the  moonlight  from  the  opened  door  floods 
the  room,  there  should  be  the  slightest  motion — which  must 
infallibly  break  the  charm  and  bring  her  to  a  realizing  sense  of 
the  situation — even  the  gentlest  leading  of  Sieglinde  seemed  to  me 

^53 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


rude  violence  in  a  situation  where  the  dropping  of  a  needle 
might  have  destroyed  the  spell,  whereas  the  prescribed  action 
is  afterwards  brought  about  naturally  by  the  course  of  the  poem 
and  the  music,  and  there  still  remain  twenty-five  minutes  for  them 
to  sit  on  the  bench.  In  brief,  I  was  unable  to  follow  the  direc- 
tions ;  my  legs  refused  to  move.  Seidl  declared,  "  Hm  !  in  reality 
you  are  right,  but  you  must  not — we  must  follow  Wagner's 
own  directions."  I  did  so  for  a  time,  but  one  evening — it  was  at 
Bologna — I  informed  Sieglinde  that  she  must  be  prepared  for  a 
change.  I  refused  to  budge  ;  whereat  there  was  great  excitement 
behind  the  scenes,  stage  manager  and  impressario  running  about 
whispering  directions  to  me,  but  I  did  not  move  till  I  thought 
the  time  had  arrived. 

When  the  curtain  fell  the  public  applauded  frantically,  but 
the  impresario  and  stage  manager  greeted  me  with  a  cold 
douche  of  censure.  A  moment  later  Seidl  came  on  the  stage, 
embraced  me  with  a  laugh,  and  exclaimed,  "  Never  do  it  any 
other  way  as  long  as  you  live.  Had  Wagner  lived  to  see  it 
he  would  have  given  you  his  blessing."  I  followed  his  advice, 
with  the  result  of  angering  other  conductors  to  whom  the  letter  was 
more  sacred  than  the  spirit.  There  you  have  a  picture  of  Anton 
Seidl   and  of  other  conductors.      He  was  liberal,   they  pedantic. 

It  was  interesting  to  hear  Seidl's  observations  regarding  the 
differences  in  the  reception  of  the  Nibelungs  Ring  in  different 
countries.  Often  he  remarked  how  it  would  have  pleased 
Wagner  if  he  could  have  lived  to  hear  how  instantly  the  Italians, 
above  all  others,  appreciated  the  best  things  in  his  operas — things 
that  had  been  overlooked  by  the  public  in  Berlin  and  even  at 
Bayreuth.  In  Rheingold,  for  instance,  the  Italians  singled  out 
for  applause  precisely  the  four  situations  which  Wagner  himself 
had  often  referred  to  as  the   most  effective.     They  went  so  far 

254 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


as  to  Stop  the  performance  and  compel  Seidl  to  repeat  what  was 
wanted.  He  did  so  most  unwilHngly,  of  course,  and  yet 
he  felt  it  was  a  great  triumph  for  Wagner.  "  Oh,  that  he 
could  have  lived  to  witness  this  ! "  (The  four  places  thus 
singled  out  were  the  Erda  scene,  introduction  to  Nibelung  cave, 
Mime's  narrative,  Rhine  daughters  at  the  close.)  Seidl  some- 
times said,  "  Perhaps,  if  Wagner  had  lived,  he  would  have 
changed  his  mind  in  regard  to  what  he  wrote  concerning 
applause." 

In  conclusion  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  the  pride  I 
feel  in  having  been  instrumental  in  bringing  Anton  Seidl  to 
America.  Having  been  with  him  so  long  I  knew  his  value,  and 
after  the  death  of  Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch  I  kept  recommending 
him  as  the  one  man  to  appoint  in  his  place.  He  was  consequently 
engaged  and  brought  over  ;  but  I  had  broken  my  own  neck,  for 
what  I  had  done  was  never  forgiven  me  in  certain  quarters. 
My  plans  and  proposals  were  accepted,  but  I  myself  was  left  out 
in  the  cold.  Anton  Schott. 

BY     GIUSEPPE     CAMPANARI 


PREVIOUS  to  1894  Anton  Seidl  was  merely  an  acquaint- 
ance of  mine,  but  when,  during  this  year,  he  toured 
the  eastern  States  with  his  orchestra,  with  me  as  a  soloist, 
we  were  together  constantly  for  three  weeks  and  our  acquaint- 
ance ripened  into  friendship.  This  trip  I  remember  as  one  of 
the  most  enjoyable  episodes  in  my  artistic  career,  though  there 
were  plenty  of  hardships  and  the  profits  were  mostly  swallowed 
up  by  the  traveling  expenses,  as  is  usually  the  case  when  an  or- 
chestra goes  on  the  road. 

25s 


ANTON       SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


It  was  during  this  trip  that  on  one  occasion  an  accident  befell 
the  engine,  making  further  travel  impossible  for  the  time  being, 
but,  as  luck  would  have  it,  we  were  just  at  the  outskirts  of  a  vil- 
lage. It  being  nearly  noon  the  disgusted  musicians  tramped 
into  town  to  its  one  hotel.  This  proved  to  be  the  usual  thing 
in  the  line  of  country  hotels,  with  the  distinction  that  it  boasted 
a  piano,  and  on  it  were  some  piano  duets,  the  quality  of  which  it 
would  not  be  polite  to  discuss  in  music  circles. 

Mr.  Seidl  pounced  upon  these,  and  pressing  me  into  service 
proceeded  to  break  the  monotony  of  that  particular  hotel.  The 
ubiquitous  loungers  and  village  philosophers  straggled  in  and 
soon  there  was  an  audience.  The  amusement  that  this  incident 
afforded  the  performers  cannot  be  described  and  several  times 
did  the  accumulating  humor  of  the  situation  interfere  seriously 
with  Mr.  Seidl's  technique.  The  redeeming  feature  about  the 
questionable  music  was  its  quantity,  as  there  was  enough  to 
enable  us  to  gorge  our  listeners  with  music  until  the  dinner  bell 
rang. 

After  a  meal,  the  memory  of  which  still  haunts  me,  word 
was  received  that  the  engine  had  been  repaired  and  was  ready  to 
proceed,  when  the  hotel  proprietor  begged,  as  a  favor,  that  some 
more  music  be  made  before  we  departed.  "Certainly,"  re- 
sponded Mr.  Seidl,  and  collaring  me  on  his  way  to  the  parlor, 
dragged  me  to  the  piano  while  the  train  was  held  until'  the  last 
song  had  been  rendered.  We  left  immediately  afterward,  carry- 
ing with  us  the  profuse  thanks  of  the  assembly  for  our  "  tunes." 

Mr.  Seidl  was  a  great  lover  of  humor ;  he  occasionally  in- 
dulged this  propensity  by  writing  funny  letters  to  his  friends.  I 
have  found  one  of  these  among  my  papers.  It  was  written  on 
the  same  trip  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  in  purposely  ludicrous  Italian, 
and  was  intended  to  be  a  compliment  to  my  voice  and  an  invita- 

256 


ANTON      SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


tion  to  dine  In  his  room,  No.  138  (thirteen  eight)   at  the   hotel. 
It  reads  as  follows  : 

Caro  mio  Campanari  ! 

Tuo  voce  e  splendido  ;  domani  notte  tu  cantare  brillante,  e 
mangare  in  numero  tredeci  otto.     A  rivederci,  tuo  amico. 

Antonio  Seidlino. 

Pittsfeldo,  Mass.,  1894. 

The  last  time  that  Mr.  Seidl  conducted  Die  Meistersinger 
(in  Italian)  at  the  Metropolitan,  I  had  been  entrusted  with  the 
part  of  Kothner.  After  a  scene  in  the  first  act,  this  char- 
acter does  not  appear  again  until  the  last  act  when  only  the  waving 
of  a  flag  and  the  singing  of  a  few  words  fall  to  its  lot,  so  that  this 
intermission  meant  several  hours  of  waiting,  and  my  '*  make-up  " 
naturally  prevented  me  from  sitting  in  the  auditorium  and  en- 
joying the  opera.  I  begged  Mr.  Seidl  to  excuse  me  after  the 
first  act  and  allow  the  flag  to  be  waved  by  one  of  the  chorus. 

"  No,"  he  replied  ;  "  remain  for  the  master's  sake  !  Go  to 
your  dressing  room  and  I  will  send  you  something  to  keep  you 
company."  I  did  as  he  had  bidden,  and  soon  after  the  boy 
brought  a  bottle  of  champagne,  two  cigars  and  Seidl's  compli- 
ments. At  the  proper  moment,  during  the  last  act,  the  original 
Kothner  appeared  and  thus  Wagner's  dignity  was  upheld  at 
the  expense  of  Mr.  Seidl's  purse. 


'.*s:2f^^^^^^^^^> 


aS7 


ANTON       SEIDL  A        MEMORIAL 


BY     JEAN     AND     EDOUARD     DE 
R  E  SZ  K  E 


THE  death  of  Anton  Seidl  was  felt  very  deeply  not  only  by 
those  who,  like  ourselves,  were  privileged  to  call  them- 
selves his  friends,  but  by  the  whole  musical  world  at  large.  It 
would  indeed  be  difficult  to  overestimate  what  his  loss  means  to 
all  lovers  of  opera. 

Nowadays  so  much  is  expected  of  a  first-rate  conductor  that 
it  is  no  marvel  if  he  be  a  rara  avis.  The  purely  technical  knowl- 
edge which  is  required  for  a  leader  to  master  the  intricacies  of  a 
modern  orchestral  score  well  enough  to  secure  merely  a  correct 
and  smooth  performance  of  it  is  in  itself  considerable,  and  yet 
this  is  but  the  A  B  C  of  the  conductor's  art.  At  the  perform- 
ance of  any  orchestral  work,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  the 
conductor  alone  represents  the  composer  and  it  is  he  who  must 
put  into  the  interpretation  not  only  the  spirit  and  atmosphere  of 
the  work  as  a  whole,  but  all  those  thousand  and  one  subtle 
nuances  which  it  would  be  well-nigh  impossible  for  the  com- 
poser to  indicate  in  black  and  white  in  his  score,  and  which  nev- 
ertheless contribute  so  greatly  to  the  life  of  the  performance. 
And  in  the  case  of  an  operatic  work  even  this  is  not  all  that  is 
required  of  the  ideal  conductor.  Here  he  must  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  singers,  he  must  understand  their  individual  interpreta- 
tion of  their  respective  parts  and  help  to  give  it  its  full  expres- 
sion without,  however,  detracting  in  any  way  from  the  unity  of  the 
whole  performance.  And  it  was  just  in  this  that  Seidl  was  so 
wonderful.  He  was  thoroughly  imbued,  from  his  boyhood,  with 
the  spirit  of  the  works  he  was  destined  to  interpret,  and  he  added 
to  this  an  instinct  which   is  indeed  rare   among   orchestral  con- 

258 


ANTON      SEIDL  A       MEMORIAL 


ductors  of  the  modern  school ;  he  understood  singing,  seemed 
to  know  by  intuition  exactly  what  the  singer  would  do  in  every 
case  and  always  helped  him  to  do  it  well.  But  he  did  not  accom- 
plish this  by  following  the  singer  slavishly.  There  are  many 
conductors  who  can  follow  a  singer  in  a  ritardando  such  as  singers 
love  to  make  at  the  close  of  a  musical  phrase,  but  there  are  few 
who  know  exactly  how  to  catch  up  the  rhythm  again  and  restore 
the  equilibrium,  as  Seidl  did,  without  apparently  affecting  the 
shape  of  the  musical  period  in  the  least. 

And  how  dear  Seidl's  whole  heart  was  in  his  work ! 
What  trouble  he  took  over  every  detail  !  At  rehearsals  he  was 
conductor,  stage-manager,  mechanician,  electrician — all  in  one  ; 
and  when  it  came  to  the  performance  the  artists  had  only  to  look 
at  his  authoritative  glance  and  inspiring  beat  to  gain  absolute 
confidence,  and  feel  that  they  would  be  ably  steered  through 
any  difficulty  that  might  arise.  In  the  course  of  our  work  with 
Seidl  our  admiration  for  him  soon  grew  to  warm  affection, 
and  we  lose  in  him  not  only  an  incomparable  artist,  who  always 
gave  us  invaluable  assistance  and  support  in  all  our  work,  but 
also  a  very  dear  friend,  who  enlivened  many  an  otherwise 
weary  hour  for  us  with  his  genial  companionship.  We  shall 
never  forget  him. 


»59 


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